Family is Everything
by Amaya Loves Joo
Summary: Jess has returned to her home in Griffin Rock from California. She missed her family so much, and is in for a surprise when she finds out about the newcomers living in their bunker. [Heatwave/Oc] [No Warnings]
1. Meet the Medic (In Training)

**Disclaimer: Transformers Rescue Bots was published and owned by Hasbro Entertainment and this work is in no way meant to profiteer off of the existing brand. A work of fiction based off of the musing of a very small time artist whom is bored and enjoys writing about fictional Robots from Outer Space.**

 ***Update 2/10-16; Revised the First chapter, added details.**

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CHAPTER 1- MEET THE MEDIC (IN TRAINING)

"MEDICIINE HEALS DOUBTS AS WELL AS DISEASE." –KARL MARX.

The island of Griffon Rock was buzzing with activity on the rather sunny and warm fall morning. There wasn't a speck of white fluff known as clouds to be seen in the sky. Nothing but the intense beauty of the radiant sun mixed in with the intense and seemingly infinite blue of the sky that makes up the atmosphere around the planet all humans live on, Earth.

On this beautiful and seemingly flawless day, the Burns family could be found out and about with their rescue partner transforming robots. Chief Charlie Burns had Chase, a rescue bot disguised as a state of the art police cruiser. Kade had Heatwave, the leader of the rescue bots whom was disguised as a resourceful fire engine. Dani and Blades were an amazing air rescue duo, whom despite the fact Blades absolutely hated his helicopter form, enjoyed saving the day time and again. Graham, along with Boulder, helped to keep Griffon Rock safe with their knowledge of construction and engineering.

Blades and Dani's relationship was that of absolute best friends, they were able to share and enjoy each other's company without having to have any boundaries. They loved each other as much as a person could, and it made their rescue efforts better than most. Knowing how each other works best creates an environment of pure trust.

The Chief and Chase had a similar relationship, but it got a little bumpy sometimes when they had a disagreement about how the law should be executed. Most of the time the Chief wanted to execute a type of mercy, but Chase sometimes felt a more hard core punishment was necessary for the crime committed. The Chief would have to explain that people make mistakes, and sometimes a harder punishment will not allow them to learn the lesson they are trying to execute through the force of the law.

Graham and Boulder worked well together, until Graham allowed his insecurities to get in the way of their relationship. Boulder would never have an ill thought of Graham as a person, but he doesn't know that. He always feels like he is not smart enough to be around the robotic aliens from outer space, they are much more advanced than the humans. He thought that maybe the bots might see them as lesser beings because they are not as advanced in their technology or their understanding of space travel is very minuscule.

Heatwave and Kade was an entire bag of cats on their own, and sometimes it causes a lot of tension between the whole family. The two of them are too similar for their own good, so they are constantly butting heads together trying to prove the other wrong. They cared deeply inside, but refused to show it on the outside.

Protecting an entire island of people was not an easy thing to accomplish, even with the help of the Rescue Bot squad sigma 17; the situations just never seem to end. Between a building catching flame and a certain cat getting stuck in a high places constantly;, weather it was an emergency situation that had many people relying on them to dissolve, or it was just a simple task a certain family member helped with because they possessed the skills to do so. Either way it appeared the entire family had some kind of activity that prevented them from doing something that called for their attention.

"Alright team, I think it's time we call it a day. We've been out all morning and I could use some Breakfast." Chief Burns said over the intercom system that connected everyone to the same line.

The bots had their own internal communications system; it comes with being a Cybertronian, at least a Cybertronian who was able to acquire the correct system updates. They could communicate amongst themselves without having to speak out loud and potentially give away a strategic positioning. It was also a nice thing to have when one just wanted to have a private conversation in a room full of people.

"Ditto." Dani said while steering Blades in the direction of the Firehouse. She technically did not have to fly him at all, but in the end it gives the both of them comfort when she is in complete control over Blades' alternative mode.

She pulled out her phone out of habit to take a quick glance at the time, noticing she had a few unread messages and a few unanswered phone calls. The name that popped up on the screen made her feel a small clench in her chest. She did not have a lot of time to think about it, as she was currently flying, but knowing they were trying so hard to contact her hurt a little.

"Yeah, I could use a break too..." Graham said while allowing Boulder to drive them back to the firehouse. He pulled out his phone as well to look up if he had any homework that needed to be completed, and noticed a rather hefty amount of missed calls from a certain someone he hasn't talked to in quiet a long time. It made him feel a little guilty, seeing how many times they tried to get a hold of him.

"Hey… Does anyone else have a lot of missed calls from Jess?" Graham asked while scrolling through the messages that just read 'pick up your phone!' and 'are you all ignoring me on purpose?'

"She has called me too… I hope everything is ok…" Dani replied while glancing at the phone that lay under her thigh on the seat, the screen black from not being in active use.

"She's fine, you know how Jess is. She worries about us when we don't call her like every two hours." Kade said resting his hand on Heatwave's steering wheel. He didn't even bother to turn his phone on this morning, but he had a feeling she probably called him too.

Every time someone did not pick up the phone it was a fest of spam phone calls and messages until someone answered her. Kade knew Jess to well to worry about what she thought, she should know that they were busy trying to protect an entire island of people. She just needs to chill out sometimes, and Kade would gladly tell her that to her face.

He can't help but feel a little bit guilty about her blowing up everyone's phones, but she was exactly how he said she was. It has been a few days since anyone has messaged her and she all of the sudden thinks something terrible has happened to them or something.

"True, but it's still not fair to make her worry about us all the time." Graham said getting ready to send her a text "You know how stressed she gets sometimes."

Graham was always the one to send her a message no matter what, because he knows how bad the others are with responding to things like that. They aren't as attached to their phones as he was, so it was just earlier for him to answer her whenever she attempts to make contact with them.

Cody was the same way, it was easier to contact him and listen to what he has to say about the going ons around the island than it was to try and contact Dani or Kade. They just never felt a connection to their mobile device like Cody and Graham do, it's not a bad thing, and it just makes it harder to get ahold of them when you need to.

"Excuse me!" Blades exclaimed as he huffed a little bit "Who is this Jess person you all are talking about?" Blades hated being left out of the conversation; it was probably the one thing that could up rile him up faster than if he was the butt of a joke and everyone wouldn't just drop it.

"Oh! Right. You guys never met Jess." Graham said as they all managed to pull up to the firehouse at the same time "She is our cousin, Dad's Sister's daughter."

He typed up a quick apology and asked her what it was she needed from them, but when he missed when he attempted to hit the send button. He just simply locked the phone after that and slipped it back into his pocket as they pulled into the large garage.

"She lives on the mainland in a different state; she is going to school to be a Paramedic." Dani explained as everyone began to unload from their vehicles in the garage. "She only has a few classes left before she is done." She simply jumped off the lift before it was fully descended and beamed at the family around her.

The bots began to change into their bipedal modes, and the family began to conjugate in the center of the room. It was the equivalent of getting comfortable when someone enters their home. Only instead of sheading outer layers of cloths, The Burns family stood together to make sure everyone was ok and the bots changed from their cramped vehicle modes to their robot modes.

"This is really like her, how long has it been since someone talked to her? An hour?" Kade said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"The last time I talked to her was a week ago, when she told me it was her school's Fall Break." Graham said about to pull his phone out again to see if she sent a reply. He didn't get that far before he felt an elbow ram into his side. He was about to scold Kade until he noticed someone standing between the door to the house and the garage.

The robots went stiff as they saw an unfamiliar presents, and proceeded to remain cautious but also, robotic. They hated having to act like machines in their own home, but it couldn't be helped when a stranger decided to pop in for an unannounced visit. Chase made a note to scold the family later for leaving the door unlocked; it was a very unsafe practice... Even if they did live on an island full of arguably nice people, it was still a terrible thing to do.

"This is a fine Burns family welcome." Jess said while laughing a little at their shocked faces. She knew her somewhat unannounced arrival would shock them, but she didn't expect them to be speechless with their mouths hanging open like fish. If they would have answered their phones a few hours ago, than it wouldn't be so unannounced!

"Jess! You're here!" Graham was the first to break the silence as he just stared at his smiling and happy faced cousin. She was still just as she was when he last saw her about a year ago, nothing really changed about her outward appearance. Still wearing that grey university jacket with a pair of blue jeans and running shoes, the sweater was a little ratty, but that was due to excess ware and tear.

She just beamed a little brighter, if that was possible, and ran up to the Chief while throwing herself into his arms without much warning. "Uncle Charlie! It's been too long." She said excitedly as she wrapped her small arms around his abdomen. Her arms couldn't reach all the way around him as she laughed a little at his surprise from her actions.

The Chief just laughed after he recovered from his initial shock, and embraced the smaller woman while patting her on the back with affection. "It's good to see you too, Jess." He missed Jess' energy for sure, and the las time he saw her it was very briefly on the main land last year for a small award ceremony they flew out to watch.

Once she let go of the Chief, she began to hug everyone else in the room with just as much enthusiasm. Sure, she saw them all last year, but it has been far too long since she has been on the island. In fact she hasn't been back since she and her Mother moved away to California to be closer to her Father's work, since she graduated from High School. That was about five years ago, when she and Kade turned 18 years old, when he started his Fire Fighting training and she went through EMT training.

Once all the hugs and the initial shock of the situation was pushed away, the surprised expression on the Burns' family faces were replaced with warm smiles and the sound of laughter filled the room. It was in that moment did Jess look around and notice the giant robots standing in a row behind the family.

She read in the news online somewhere that Griffon Rock was experimenting with robotic rescue forces, and she figured her family would be involved somehow, but this to her was beyond words. She tilted her head a little as she walked past Kade to get a closer look at this advanced technology her family has found themselves using.

"Amazing, this technology is so… Interesting." She said while walking up to Heatwave a little closer. She slowly reached out to touch the frame of one of his legs "These are incredible…"

She tilted her head a little and thought that she felt the robot shudder under her light touch, but decided it must have been her imagination. It has been a long trip from her college to Griffon Rock, and decided that she needed some sleep. She did note that the metal felt a little, warm maybe? It could be chalked up to the fact it has been outside all morning.

Jet lags was a powerful force, and when you have to take a flight from California to Maine, take a train to the dock station, and then another boat to the actual island itself can take a lot out of a person. Good thing she was used to pushing past most of her fatigue when it rises up, otherwise EMT training would have been impossible. Sometimes you have to be the master of your own fatigue, and to push through it until you can fall asleep when it is most appropriate.

"Jess, why don't we all head into the house and grab a bite to eat, help you get settled from the long trip here." The Chief suggested as he placed his hand on her shoulder to pull her attention away from the bots.

He was pretty sure that Jess did not know too much about the bots, her knowledge was just about the same as everyone else in the world. They were just advanced machines used to help in rescue missions and every day patrolling usage. Jess was probably tired, and he did not want to over fill her with the knowledge of aliens from another planet.

She was much shorter than the chief was, and only a little bit taller than Cody. It was an odd sight to see as most of the Burns family was taller than most people. It was one of the things that caught Heatwave's attention about her; it seems she was a little genetically different than the other Burns' family members in the room. Is it because she is only a cousin and shares a different genetic type?

Heatwave had heard about how humans had the potential to have very different genetics, and can actually have a lot of traits that differentiated them from their fellow family members. He wondered if she looked more like one parent than the other, because she did not look like a thing like Dani, which is the only femme of this family he had to compare her to.

"Good idea, Uncle Charlie." She said as she began to back track to the door to the home slowly, followed by the rest of the family. They were all carrying light conversations with each other when the door was shut tight behind them. The Chief made sure to grab her bags on the way out as he laughed to himself remembering how bad the girl was at packing a suitcase, he wouldn't be surprised if she brought her whole room with her.

Once she was gone the bots visibly let loose as Blades began to stretch a little dramatically. Chase was fidgeting a little as Boulder turned to observe everyone's reactions. He noticed Heatwave was still rigid and holding himself still while starring at the door the family just went through. It was a curious sight, as Heatwave was normally the first to address having to act like a machine in the firehouse.

Boulder also knew though, that he does this when he is deep in thought, when his processor traps his conscious mind in what almost seems like a loop. It worried Boulder sometimes, as a loop is an early sign of a bad glitch, and he has seen many good bots fall victim to processor glitching.

"Well, now we know who Jess is." Blades said casually as he noticed Heatwave's strange behavior as well. He wanted to break this weird tense air lingering in the room somehow.

He knows, too, how bad Heatwave can be sometimes, especially in the privacy of their under under the fire house. He is always so lost in his own processor, it gets kind of scares him a little bit. Blades loved Heatwave like a mean older brother, it would kill him to see anything bad happen to him.

"Heatwave, are you well?" Chase asked as he saw his leader's unmoving form. He has never seen Heatwave act like this before.

Chase was a little more distant than the other bots were, as he was never one to share emotions he feels in his spark sometimes. Of course, if it is a serious situation he will open up, but he rarely ever got like that. It doesn't mean he doesn't care, he is just more concerned about the integrity of his leaders actions more than his seemingly problematic loops. He knows that just because a bot suffers from processor loop, it doesn't mean they are unfit to be a leader.

"What? Uh, I'm fine." Heatwave said while waving off the rest of his team. He turned around and walked to the platform that lowered into the bunker below.

"Ok… So what do you guys make of this Jess character? I, for one, think its rude to appear unannounced." Blades said in a small huff, he didn't like people acting rude all that much. He also wanted to keep everyone in conversation to hopefully pull Heatwave from his loop.

"I think she looked nice, maybe we can be friends with her like we are with the rest of the family." Boulder said with sincerity as he watched Heatwave walk towards the platform they were all standing on. He caught on to Blades act rather quickly and decided to help pitch in.

"Maybe, or maybe it is best to keep our identities a secret around her. We do not know how she will react." Chase added. Not catching on at all, in fact it was weird to him they even talked about this at all. He trusted the Burns enough to know this girl's temperament, and it was their decision to reveal their identity.

"What do you think, Heatwave?" Blades asked turning to look at their leader. Chase didn't get it, as usual he is as closed off as ever.

"Nothing! I don't think anything of her, and neither should you guys." Heatwave grumbled as he busied himself with the control panel to lower the platform. It was stuck again, and he had to walk back and forth between the platform and panel to fix it.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the Berth this morning." Blades mumbled as he decided to drop the subject all together. It wasn't worth making Heatwave upset over something so small, as he has been on the receiving end of their leader's anger before. Besides, him trying to fix the controls seemed like a better way to pull him out than simply talking.

Inside the house the family got settled at the table with breakfast in front of them made by the Chief, if was simple of just pancakes and some sausage links. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was enough for them to fill up their empty stomachs from a very early morning patrol. It was mornings like this that made them happy they do their jo s though, knowing that you could lose everything but you still keep your family no matter what. At least, that is how the Chief saw it.

"And then we had to deal with Flying Lobsters! Flying Lobsters!" Dani said as she began laughing while cutting up the food that was on her plate. She sill never in her life get over the flobsters incident…

"Oh my, it seems Griffon Rock hasn't changed one bit since I was gone." Jess laughed and she took another bite of the pancakes on her plate. She had less food than everyone else, but it was because she really didn't feel all that hungry, especially after her long trip over here.

She felt like she missed so much of her family growing up when her Mother decided to move to California. Though she has made a life and name for herself over there, but here is where her heart truly lies. All the adventures and fun she missed with her family while away made her a little sad, but it was great to hear everyone's crazy stories.

She loved California too, it was where her Mother and Father were, but this is where she spent the majority of her life. From infancy to adolescents, basically all of her young life. It hurt when she had to leave after she graduated high school, but in the end it helped expand her horizon as well, experience a surrounding out of her element. She passed this challenge with flying colors, and now she felt like she needed to get back to her roots.

"So, what is with those cool robots in the garage?" She asked casually without trying to sound too interested in the bots. It was the "daughter of a mechanic" syndrome returning to her head as she continued to think about the machines that were located just in the other room of the house.

"The Bots are super advanced Rescue Vehicles meant to help with emergency situations." Chief said a little nonchalantly as he could. He didn't want her to make a big deal out of the robots, especially if she was only going to be staying here for a few days.

"That's amazing, Uncle! They can transform into Vehicles and help perform Rescue operations? Just like the news stories I've read." Jess stated while taking another small bite of the food offered to her. She knows how her Uncle is; he doesn't like it when food is wasted. "I would love to see them in action first hand."

"I don't want to put you in danger, Jess, but maybe once Cody gets out of school we can go pick him up in the Police Cruiser." Chief said as he was satisfied that she decided to eat a little more of the food given to her. She was just so picky, even more so than Cody was, which was saying something because it was a challenge to get him to eat anything green.

She ate like a bird, in small amounts and only at certain times of the day. Her Mother did not seem to mind, but the Chief was bothered by this. She was always there to take care of them, but she never wanted to be taken care of, even when she was a child.

"Thank you, Uncle!" She said as she gave a happy sigh and ate a little more of the food in front of her "Someone pass me the Maple Syrup, please."

The rest of the day went on as such, the family sharing stories amongst themselves about what bas been going on since the other has been away. She loved hearing about all the wacky things the family runs into during rescue missions.

Living on an island full of experimental tech will do that, and it was one of the reasons her Mother wanted to move away. Between the malfunctioning garbage robots and street lights that made everyday life nearly impossible to live, and the odd occurrence that happened due to some weird experiment or strange series of coincidences that got out of hand.

Her Mother, just a simple librarian and novel writer wanted nothing to do with the island after she grew up, but her father, the mechanic convinced her to stay for a little while longer. Her father was on an exchange student studying abroad on the island from Japan, and he always explains how it was love at first sight between him and her Mother.

Once she was born though, they decided to stay until their daughter was done with school, as her Father knew what it was like to always have to move between schools because his parents always moved around for work. Jess and her family stayed on the Island until she finished High School, and they left almost immediately after to move to the sunshine state, California.

Jess wanted to leave at first, after what happened to her between someone she once called a friend, but she knew she would miss her family there. She made a life for herself in California though, able to go to school and help her Father sometimes in his garage shop fixing people's cars.

She loved cars and robots, ever since she was little, but never perused the career because she felt she did not have the capacity for mathematical know how. She was better at taking care or people than she was taking care of cars, and she will never regret the life choice she made to study medicine over mechanics.

Occasionally she will indulge in the robotics magazine, or read up on the latest advancement in some kind of thing that was pushing humanity forward. These machines, the rescue bots, which her family had in their possession, certainly did intrigue her. They were the real advancement in technology, the real leap forward.

Though, she thought maybe they were a little to advanced, something that humanity could never achieve.

"This car is amazing, Uncle Charlie!" Jess laughed as she leaned forward a little to look out the windshield.

She was enjoying the car ride in the police cruiser with her Uncle, as it was a very comfortable vehicle. It was like a futuristic police car with all the knobs and dials on the dashboard, and the actual bots face plastered in the center of the screen was an interesting addition.

It seemed like a useless feature to her, to see the face of the vehicle you were in, but it probably serves a purpose she doesn't know about. She was not the one who designed them, and she would not have enough imagination to think up of something as amazing and unique as this. She will leave the creativity to the people in this city, on the island of Griffon Rock.

The city hasn't changed a single bit since she was here, the streets were still bustling with activity and the people still were as carefree as ever. The buildings still stood tall and proud against the blue sky that refuses to stay gone for long behind dull grey clouds on the island. Storms always seemed to come and go rather quickly, it sometimes felt like the island was its own pocket or weather.

It was very different out in California. She lived up north in the mountains where it was always so cold and over casted, she missed sunny days and warm weather the island had to offer. It felt so amazing to be home again, in a place she knew very well. The weather always seemed to have a big impact on her mood, and she will always treasure these sunny days, it was such a blessing to live on an amazing world.

"Glad you like it, Jess." Chief said as he pulled to a stop in front of the school and waited for the school day to officially end for the students inside.

During the short Car ride the Chief gave Jess a brief description of the Rescue bots. There was the Helicopter bot, Blades, whom was used by Dani for aerial missions. A Fire rescue bot, Heatwave, used by Kade used for bigger rescues like fires and medical emergencies. A Bulldozer bot, Boulder, used by Graham to help the buildings on the island stay in top shape against any kind of natural disasters that could cause them to tumble and fall.

Finally the Police rescue bot, Chase, used by the Chief to stop everyday crimes and patrol the small city to help prevent any crimes that could occur. Once Jess got over this fatigue she was feeling, she was definitely going to ask for more information on these robots. Her curiosity was soaring through the roof after she heard that they had code names and were matched t their partner for strategic purposes.

Jess opened the door and got out of the car and inhaled the fresh sea air of the island. She remembered going to this school when she was younger, and the feelings of nostalgia gave her so much comfort. Most of the memories here were good, mixed with the occasional blunders that a normal teenager and child would face. It was still a nice sentiment to be back in a place she knew so well.

She hoped that little Cody would be as happy to see her as she was him. The last time she saw him in person was when he was still little and just starting grade school. They would always text and talk back and forth on the phone, and he was always excited to talk to her then, so seeing her in person should be no different. The Chief also exited the vehicle to stand next to Jess, as he smiled when she took a deep breath

She always did like being close to the ocean, and she knew his sister moved them up into the mountains, far away from the sea. It was a little funny to Charlie, as it made him feel like it defeated the purpose of moving to California. Isn't it supposed to be about the sunshine and beaches, but his sister was always a little bit backwards, it always gave him a big smile thinking about his baby sister.

As the bell rang Jess stood patiently by the car with the Chief and watched children of all ages flood out of the school, excited to finally be let free to do what they wanted before they had to do the homework assigned to them. It took a few minutes before Cody emerged from the building, and Jess noticed that he had a young girl walking next to him. Jess didn't recognize her, but assumed she was Cody's friend with the way they were talking and laughing with each other.

It was heartwarming to know h found someone outside of the family to connect with, as that was always her problem.

She never really trusted anyone.

"Noble!" Cody shouted as he ran up to Jess once he finally looked her way, she saw the girl next to him laugh as he basically launched himself at her. He embraced Jess in a tight hug as she began to laugh and squeezed him back with just as much enthusiasm.

"Hey, Cody! It's good to see you again." Jess said as she let the child go from her grip, watching him look up at her with those doe eyes of his with a warm smile on his face.

Cody was that kind of person; he could brighten a room just by walking into it and showing his smile to everyone there. He was just so very friendly, and it was kind of a rare trait in the Burns family lineage. Not to say the Burns families were mean or un socialized, they just tended to keep relationships within themselves until someone was proven worthy to be let into the tight knit group.

It was a little funny considering how much they loved to help people. Irony is a weird device that likes to rear it's head at the strangest of times.

"Jess! I didn't know you were going to come by!" he exclaimed "How long are you staying? Are you done with school since you are here? Where is Aunt Cassie? Did-" He began to flood her with questions, it made her smile as she had only just talked to him last week over the phone.

Still the same old Cody, no matter how old he got. Always to excited, and never had time to stop and pause to take a break from al the crazy things he seemed to get himself into on an almost weekly basis. It was a cute trait, and Jess felt honored to be in the same family as someone as capable as Cody was.

"Alright, Cody, Give Jess a minute to breathe huh?" Chief laughed as he watched his son getting a little too excited. He swore he watched Cody jump up and down in front of Jess who was just laughing at his childish behavior. It certainly put a smile on the Chief's face, which always happened when Cody was in the room.

"Yeah Cody, don't scare her off before I get a chance to meet her." His friend said while walking up to Jess "I'm Francine Greene, Cody's best friend. You can call me Frankie though." She held her hand out for Jess to shake.

Now she had a face to put to the name, Cody talked quite a bit about her, and all the fun adventures they have had with each other. She held herself very well, and there was an air of sophistication and grace about this young girl. Jess could see her potential, and was happy she was able to become his friend.

"Frankie, I'm Jessica Burns. Everyone just calls me Jess." She said while giving Frankie's hand a firm shake.

Jess knows what it is like to be slightly isolated by peers, and she was glad Cody did not have to experience it. Though, some of that isolation was due to Kade when they were going to school together, but it's all water under the preverbal bridge now.

Jess was about to ask Frankie and Cody how their school day before a small beeping could be heard, it was the Chief's com that was attached to the collar of his shirt. He pressed the button and answered with a swift "Griffon Rock Emergency." There was a long pause before he responded again with a "We'll be right there." He turned and looked to Jess as he spoke.

"There is an accident on Old Canyon Road. A 4 Car pile up. Cody, walk your cousin home." Chief said in a serious tone as he turned and got into his vehicle as quickly as he could. He zoomed out of the school's parking lot and into the streets to get to the emergency as soon as he could.

"Oh dear, that sounds terrible." Jess said as she watched Chief speed away with the sirens blasting loudly.

Car accidents were the number one cause of casualties in the world they lived in, as it was closely followed by heart disease as another deadly killer. Jess always hated hearing about bad situations that had occurred through people's lives, but it was a reality she faces every day. It was a part of becoming a Paramedic, dealing with accident scenes such as car accidents and pile ups.

"C'mon, let's get to the command center in case he might need our help." Cody said grabbing his cousin's hand and running off "Later, Frankie!" He yelled as he ran away.

Frankie waved bye to the duo as she watched them run off to the fire house, she had a feeling she was going to like Jess. She seemed to be a very friendly sort of person, someone you could talk to about anything. Cody told her about his cousin a few times, about how she was training to be a Paramedic and wanted to maybe become a doctor one day. To do that kind of job you would have to be a patient person, and someone with a very strong will.

It was definitely not a job Frankie could see herself doing. She was not patient enough to deal with people like that.

Once Cody successfully dragged Jess through the town, they reached the command center in the Burns' family home. Jess forgot that this place existed, and she also forgot how big the fire house really was. Her family just lived in a small two bedroom home on the other side of the island, and she never really went anywhere in the home besides Kade's room and the dining room.

Cody booted up the console and looked for the accident on the cameras that the Chief talked about, it did not take very long to locate. "Found it!" he exclaimed as Jess was leaning over his shoulder too look. The technology here really was amazing, more so than she even remembered being when she used to live here.

"That is so terrible..." Jess said as she looked at the scene in front of her.

There were car parts strewn across the pavement as the Chief pulled up and exited the police cruiser, it transformed after he did so. What was left of four cars could be seen as the Chief began to look for survivors and assess the situation. Chase just simply began to set up road blocks so other vehicles would not be able to pass the road.

Jess could see in one of the cars on the screen a man was unconscious, in his vehicle with his face slammed up against the steering wheel. A classic case of the airbags not deploying due to the faulty wiring of the car, what was worse was his position in the accident.

He was located out of the Chief's view, and he would be impossible to see if not for Cody's camera angels on the screen. It was dangerous to leave him there unchecked, as he could have suffered from a bad concussion, or worse. He could already be dead, but Jess did not let that stop her from wanting to take action

It also looked like the metal on the car he was in was bent in many different ways, preventing it from being opened in a conventional way. They would have to break out a very heavy drill in order to pry that door off, and it looked like they might not have time to be able to do that. "Where are Dani and her robot?" Jess asked Cody as he began to search the cameras.

Maybe using the Helicopter's force they could simply pry the door open without further injuring the man. It wasn't very sound, as using too much force she could pull the car sideways and make it topple over, causing more damage to the man inside. It was possible, and Dani was a good piolet, but it would take a lot of concentration on her part to perform this maneuver.

"She is busy with a sea rescue, a cruise ship is sinking and she is towing a dingy with the passengers to safety." Cody said as he switched the main camera feed to focus on Dani's rescue.

"Well, at least she doesn't need help. What about Graham and his bot?" She asked.

The Bulldozer looked like a very powerful machine, and with the right trajectory could easily pull that door off with little damage done to the person inside. They would need to use his cable though, and that was a very thick wire cord that could cause more harm than good. Again, the threat of tipping the car was great, and the cable could bend the metal on the door even more, making it even more of a challenge to get it open.

"Graham is at a construction site downtown helping the workers pick up the piece of an unfinished building that toppled over." Cody said as he switched cameras again to look at what was happening with Graham.

"Well, that is just as important as this…" Jess said "Kade?" she asked while looking down to her youngest cousin.

She had no idea how a fire rescue bot would be good in this situation. Maybe if he could work with the police bot they could get the man out of the car to take him to the hospital quickly. She was out of ideas besides using them to just pry the doors open and off.

It was risky though, as they could collapse the whole car around the man and really seal his fate. It looked to be her only option however, as each moment ticked by was another moment he could be losing himself to the injuries he has sustained in this terrible accident.

She would just call the Chief to tell him, but in reality there was nothing he could do without some back up. It was just him and his robot on the scene right now, and there were more people that needed tending to whom seemed to be worse off than the man on appearance.

"He is out on a date with Hayley… I doubt he will answer his com." Cody said, remembering that Kade hates being interrupted during his time off, especially if it's with his girlfriend Hayley.

"Where is his bot?" Jess asked while standing up straight and turning around to start walking out the door.

"Downstairs, Kade isn't allowed to take him on dates anymore." Cody said as he swiveled in his chair to look at his cousin.

"Your dad needs help Cody. I'm going over there with the bot." Jess said as she ran to the elevator to descend to the family's underground bunker. Chief said that is where the bots are stored when they aren't in use.

"I'll come with you, in case you need help with the bot." Cody said as he followed after her to the bunker.

"Good idea. It might not listen to me..." She said as the doors to the elevator opened.

The light was slightly blinding, and she had to blink rapidly to get used to it. She noticed the robot standing there with its back facing her, she wasted no time in addressing it, as time was not something they could waste in these precious moments during a rescue.

"Robot, we have an emergency that Chief needs help with. Can you transform for me so that I may assist him?" Jess asked as she approached the robot.

She hoped by speaking in a clear tone and stating her desires directly that maybe the robots programing's will allow her to operate the machine. They didn't appear to be user locked, but with advanced technology you never really know until you try.

"Affirmative." It said as it transformed into a fire truck right before her eyes.

"Stunning…" She mumbled as she got into the truck.

Cody followed behind her and got into the passengers seat. "Alright, we need to get to the Old Canyon Road, ASAP." She said as they buckled their seatbelts. She wanted to so badly admire the amazing technology in front of her, but there would be time to do that later.

"On it." The robot said as it started up by itself.

"Uhh…" Jess said as she retracted her hands from the wheel.

"They are really advanced robots…" Cody said as he laughed nervously while scratching the back of his head.

"I see…" Jess said as she began to drive to the site where Chief was with the sirens blasting and her foot on the gas pedal.

It was a very short drive from the station to the crash site with the speed Jess put through the truck. With the sirens blasting and going way above the speed limit the time was cut in half, and it had both Cody and Heatwave nervous. They thought Kade was a reckless driver, but Jess really took the cake with her speed. She did not stop or slow down for anyone, and was very loose with the way she steered the truck.

She did not normally drive like this, and there was a reason she was not the designated driver of the ambulances she had been on in her training. She is a very good driver, but something like that just tends to leave your mind when you are dedicated to an emergency response.

She was more focused on how to deal with the situation when she got there, what needed to be done first and how fast the situation needed to be cleared. If it was a freeway accident, similar to this one, they needed to clear the roads quickly and allow other drivers to pass by without them risking being added to the accident.

Once she and Cody pulled up to the scene, Jess wasted no time in exiting the vehicle and surveying the area. As soon as they were safely outside of the truck, and Jess knew what needed to be done, she ran towards the chaos in order to help anyone she could.

Though, No matter how many emergencies she responds too, they never get any easier. "Robot, will you transform and help me get that door open, please?"

She saw she was running out of options as she approached the car that was hidden behind all the other. It was worse than it looked on the cameras, as the door was now not the only problem. His car was buried underneath a few other turned cars. They had to clear the debris before they could pull him to safety.

"Wait!" She said as Heatwave was about to reach forward to pull the debris away "We need to do this slowly, and collapsing of the cars around and this guy is a goner." She said seriously as she began to point at where she wanted him to pull from.

Heatwave said nothing as he tried to keep up the robot act for her benefit. He did what he was told and transformed to try and help the man out of the car. Jess ran over once Heatwave carefully removed the car parts and big debris and was able to pry the car door open, it took him a few tries to do it. He might have been a giant robot, but the metal was so bent out of shape it took him a while to figure out how to get it off without hurting anyone.

He watched as she approached the man at the wheel and slowly check to see if he was still alive, feeling all around to make sure he had a pulse and was actually breathing and she unbuckle his seatbelt once she confirmed his condition as alive. Once she assessed he could be moved without further harming him, she placed his arm over her shoulder and pulled him to a safer distance away from the cars that looked like they were not doing so well.

Heatwave was slightly impressed, as she was a small looking femme, as the man was much larger than her. She was able to pull him out of the situation with ease, and did not look like she even broke a sweat, and it only made him more curious about her.

The Chief came over and helped Jess pull the man to a further distance while instructing the other survivors to stay put and wait for help to arrive. Most everyone came out of the situation unscathed besides a few nasty scratches and bruises. It was the man from the car that was concerning her more, as his injuries were more prominent.

He had a broken wrist and was still unconscious with a possible concussion, and as Jess checked his pulse and made a note of his vital signs she breathed a sigh of relief. They were normal for someone who just went through a traumatic event, which was a good sign. He would be ok if he could get to a hospital quickly and be examined by a physician.

She used her phone to call for a few tow trucks to come to the scene, as well as a few ambulances to bring the people to a hospital to be looked over. Chief instructed the bots to separate the vehicles so they could easily be towed away to the impound lot to clear the area as fast as possible.

The two bots made quick work of the cars as the tow trucks and ambulance arrived on scene at the same time. Once she helped the Paramedics load everyone onto the vehicles, they drove away with sirens blasting, heading to the local hospital for them to be looked at. The tow trucks also made quick work of the cars, and in a short two and a half hours one couldn't even tell there was an accident on the road at all.

"Good job, Jess. I forget that you are a Paramedic and are trained to deal with these kinds of situations." Chief Burns praised "I'm surprised Kade's robot listened to you, he can be a bit temperamental." He laughed while placing a hand on his niece's shoulder.

She thought she heard the robot behind her give a low growl of disapproval, but she wrote it off as her being tired. She never did get that nap she wanted to take, and the adrenaline from the situation was wearing off fast. It looked like the sky was beginning to darken with the twilight hours approaching fast; it was her favorite time of day. Or was it her favorite time of night?

What time was it anyway?

In California, even as far north as she was, she never really got to see the stars like she could here on this island. To mush light pollution from the nearby cities that never slept. She only ever got to see the stars and moon so clearly when she was here on her favorite island. She took a moment to look up and smile at said stars begin to peak above her, she really did miss this place when she was gone.

"Thanks, Uncle Charlie." Jess yawned. "Can we go back to the firehouse? I'm about ready to fall sleep on the pavement." She laughed.

So much for trying to stay awake and spend more time with the family, as it looks like her tired body was finally catching up with her wide awake mind. She is going to sleep very well when she lays down that night, both out of fatigue of the day and the feeling of security with her family around her again.

"Do you want me to take you back? Don't want you falling asleep at the wheel…" He said while pointing to his police cruiser.

"It's alright; I can drive this guy back." She replied while patting Heatwave's leg "Besides, who else can take it back? Cody?" She laughed as she asked the bot to transform again for her.

She has found her new favorite vehicle on the island, and she had no idea that he was a sentient being.

* * *

 **I don't expect much from this story to be honest with everyone, it was just something I was inspired to work on after watching Rescue Bots. I'm working on the next chapter now, but I am suffering from writer's block and can't think of anything at the moment. I feel like this story is a little stereotypical as well, and I will try to skirt past some of the 'Wow that is original' stuff and try to get down to the more nitty gritty of things.**

 **This wont be a big update story either, and between work and school I hardly have any time to do anything. This is just something I did on the bus to pass the time, but we will see where it goes. This chapter is a little rough, and I really dislike it, and I am hoping the next few will be better. Anyway, Reviews are always welcome, and critiques are always a plus, and thank you for reading.**


	2. Validation is Key Part I

-Chapter 2- Validation is key Part I

 _"Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge." -Plato_

"Good morning, Dani!" Jess smiled as she turned from the stove that was alive with coking food to look at her cousin. She was making a rather large breakfast, as she wanted to try and cater to everyone's personal taste in the house.

"Morning' Jess." Dani said as she stretched and yawned. Jess could hear some of her bones creaking and laughed a little to herself, as it seems Dani needs to work on stretching before doing strenuous activities. No matter how many times Jess tells her this though, she will never listen as Dani could be very stubborn when she wanted to be. Especially when it came to her health or her body, including things like her cloths and her hair.

"You're our guest you know" Dani yawned again while pouring herself a cup of coffee that Jess just brewed a few minutes ago "We are supposed to be serving you food, not the other way around."

"Oh posh" Jess laughed as she turned back around to continue cooking breakfast "It gives me something to do. You know I don't like being idle." She chuckled as she watched the eggs in the pan cook nicely. It was time to flip the pancake that was currently still in the pan though.

"True, true." Dani laughed as she sat down and grabbed a section of the local paper that was sitting on the table. Jess grabbed it from the porch earlier in the morning as she heard the paper bow toss in in the driveway as she woke up to do her normal morning stretches and routine.

"I'm surprised you're up this early, normally you are the last one awake." Jess commented with a smile on her face, she liked to tease Dani because she knew she could handle the light gestures thrown her way. Kade was one of the only ones who couldn't take a light joke, and sometimes he would take it as an insult rather than a small poke to have fun.

"Blades and I have early morning duty, I wouldn't be awake otherwise." She laughed while her eyes skimmed the paper lazily. Jess might have thought she wasn't even reading it, just skimming it if she didn't know Dani was a fast reader. She always has been that way, which makes her a surprisingly quick learner, if only she would read a cook book…

"Blades?" Jess asked while putting a plate of two pancakes, an egg, and a few sausage links in front of her cousin to eat before she goes on patrol. "That is your helicopter robot right?"

"Y-yup." Dani said taking a big bite of her breakfast, as Jess scolded her for it. She could choke on it, and Jess really did not feel like doing the Heimlich maneuver on her cousin.

Dani didn't speak through the rest of her meal, eating it rather quickly as Jess laughed and told her to slow down or she will get a stomach cramp later on. Dani laughed and said she hasn't changed at all, that she was still a nag, Jess only chuckle din reply as she continued to cook breakfast. After Jess wished her cousin a good patrol as Dani was out the door, the rest of the Burns family began to wake up and make themselves known as they slumped to the table.

The Chief sighed when he saw Jess making breakfast and tried to make her relax, but she was having none of it. She prefers to serve rather than be served, that was just who she was and how she was raised. Her father made sure she was given all the opportunities to be a good and polite person, and she took full advantage of it.

Graham was next to wake up to the smell of a fully cooked breakfast, and said his thanks as he sat next to his dad at the table. He ate with a sense of grace, unlike Kade who awoke next and rumbled a thank you as he scarfed down his food. Jess was sure he didn't even bother to taste it as he wolfed it down with such gusto, but that was Kade for you, you either love him or leave him.

Cody was the last one to drag himself out of bed, already up and eager to go to school. He was more like her at that age than he realized, ready to watch and learn and prepare for a future that will be grand. Eager to show the world what they were capable of when the opportunity arises to prove their worth. Though Dani was already gone by the time Cody was up, but he didn't seem to be too bothered by it. Jess knew the family made sacrifices for their job, but she was really hoping to have the whole family together for breakfast.

Kade left a little after Dani and said he was going to back to bed, as his patrol did not start till the late afternoon. Graham was needed to inspect a building on the island to make sure it was up to code, so he left while wishing Cody a good day at school.

Jess ate a smaller breakfast of toast with strawberry jam on it with a glass of orange juice on the side. She doesn't like to eat a lot in the morning or the afternoon, but once diner comes around after a long day at the hospital she will gladly eat her fill of food that is available. It seems like Cody is the same way, as he only ate a few pancakes and drank a glass of water.

"Uncle Charlie, you guys are in need of some groceries. When is the last time you went shopping?" Jess laughed as she began looking through the cabinets and the fridge when she finished eating her small breakfast. There wasn't a whole lot of fresh ingredients to be found, mostly premade stuff and quick snacks that can be made on the fly.

"Well… I-uh." The chief coughed while rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous look on his face. That told Jess all she needed, it had to have been at least two weeks since the last time anyone went shopping. She didn't blame him too bad, but he has a big family of Heroes to feed, all of whom should be eating a proper diet of lots of proteins and carbs to keep them going energized throughout the day.

"Uncle Charlie!" Jess laughed in a mock surprised tone, as she grinned at him while closing the cabinets with a soft clink. She walked over and begun to pick up the dishes from the table and place them in the sink to be washed later, and she started to put away the leftovers after that was done.

The Chief just laughed at her picking on him, Jess hasn't changed one bit over the few years she was gone. It made him wonder how his baby sister was doing, as she was just like Jess and the rest of their family, kept very busy with work. Maybe it was just a Burns family thing, having so much passion and love for what they do that it made it hard to keep in contact with family they don't see every day. It made him grateful that he came from a family of such dedicated people, he truly was blessed.

"That settles it." Jess huffed as she hung up that _terribly ugly_ apron the Chief liked so much and smoothed out her red turtleneck. She also pulled up her jeans slightly, as they were falling a little uncomfortably below her waist. She also made a mental note to grab another apron while she was out, she hated the one Uncle Charlie had. "C'mon Cody, I'll drop you off and then go shopping for food." She said as she began to walk towards the garage.

"Shopping?" The Chief asked a little stunned she would suggest it as he tilted the newspaper away from his face. He read it around the time Jess started to clean the table up of the family's breakfast.

"Noble! How are we getting there?" Cody asked, excited at the idea of spending time with his cousin. He did not mean to ignore his Dads question, but he rarely got to see Jess and anytime she suggested time together it made him happy.

"In Heatwave, of course." She laughed and motioned for Cody to follow her out. It should have been obvious as to what vehicle she was taking.

"Uhm… Wouldn't you rather go in Chase?" The Chief said a little unsure if he even wanted her to use the bots at all. He was always against recreational use of the bots, but he knew once Jess had her mind set it was a rare occurrence to have it change.

"Don't you need your robot for today?" She asked as she stopped before fully leaving the kitchen, Cody barley stopping in time from bumping into her. "Dani took Blades out, and Graham took Boulder. I'm not sure going shopping with a bulldozer is the best route anyway, or a helicopter for that matter. No parking." She laughed and left the room before the Chief could give anymore protests to her little outing. She would be back before Kade needed Heatwave, and then she can get started on a new eating schedule for the family.

Cody followed close by her, asking all kinds of questions about her job and how she liked living on the mainland in California. She laughed at how excited he was, but she understood, it had been far too long since her last visit with the family on the small island.

"The mainland isn't so bad, but I prefer being here with you, Kid." Jess laughed and ruffled his hair as they approached the robots lined up in the garage. The only ones that were left anyway, Chase and Heatwave. She thought that Heatwave was the coolest looking one out of them all, he even had the best paint job out of the bots living there. This one was definitely her favorite robot of the bunch, by far the coolest looking anyway.

"Alright, Heatwave. Would you transform for me so I can take Cody to school?" She asked while looking up at the massive robot.

"Affirmative." He replied in a robotic toned voice. Their voices could use a little work, but they were still great none the less.

She marveled at how he transformed from robot to car with ease, and was amazed that human engineering could accomplish something like this. To her, it would seem impossible to create something as complicated as a transforming robot, yet here was one right in front of her… two actually. Four technically, but once one was a mold successfully made, making more wouldn't be too hard.

He opened the doors for herself and Cody to climb into, as Jess took the drivers side while Cody sat in the middle seat next to her with his bag clutched to his side. He looked at the little screen that had Heatwaves face with a small apologetic smile as Jess buckled into her seat. Unaware of the silent communication between the boy and the bot.

Once she pulled out of the garage and was on the main road, she smiled to herself as she watched the familiar terrain pass her by. "How do you like the bots?" Cody asked seemingly out of nowhere as Jess stopped at a red stoplight making sure she kept her eyes open for any dangers on the road.

"Truly amazing, I am impressed by their ability to transform so seamlessly." Jess said while patting the steering wheel gently. "This one is definitely my favorite, I love fire trucks." She laughed as she continued her driving as the light turned green.

"That's good. I think Heatwave likes you too, he hasn't been given you any trouble. He is always giving Kade a hard time." Cody laughed "He never really lets Kade drive either."

"If I was a car I wouldn't let Kade drive me either. That guy doesn't know the meaning of the words "slow down" and "easy on the clutch"" Jess snickered while making air quotes whole still gripping the wheel.

Cody was laughing now and holding his stomach at Jess' humor towards his older brother. He knows those two are very close and enjoys watching them pick on each other whenever they got the chance to make a small quip or joke. Kade always seemed to get offended though, but not Jess. It was a good trait to have, and seemed to run in the family.

Cody looked back to Heatwave and saw be was trying hard not to laugh at Jess' jokes either. It made him continue to wonder why Heatwave was cooperating with Jess, as even when he had to pretend to be a robot around Frankie or the Doc he was still reserved and unwilling to corporate in his own ways.

Maybe it was because Jess was asking, and not at all demanding. She asked Heatwave if he would be willing to do something rather than she demand him and expect him obey without question. Cody know its better to be asked to do something than demanded. When asked one can deny the request easier than being demanded to do it and feeling bad later on for saying no.

Jess was also very gentle when handling people and objects, as she said she was there to help and not hurt. She meant it when she talks about things like that, as she doesn't believe in violence or benevolent behavior that could result in someone's injury. Physically or emotionally.

"Alright, Kiddo, here we are. Be good and give me a call if you want me to come get you after." She said as she pulled Cody into a side hug and pat his arm before letting go.

"I will, thanks Jess. Thanks Heatwave." He said while giving his cousin a small squeeze back before he jumped out of Heatwave and onto the sidewalk. He waved and made his way into the school building, followed by his best friend Frankie who waved to Jess as well, Jess waved back until they were inside the school and she could no longer see them.

Jess pulled out her phone and saw it was still only around eight in the morning, so she had plenty of time to do her chores before Kade needed his robot back for patrol. The Chief was probably gone by now, so she would have freedom of the house when she got back. Kade wasn't one to protest to her cooking and cleaning for the family, so long as he didn't have to do it he wouldn't protest someone doing his chorse.

"Alright Heatwave, I just wanted to thank you for putting up with me this morning. Nobody else would, at least not to come with me to do chores. Cody might but that is because he doesn't know any better yet." She laughed as she drove on.

Heatwave did not mind going with her, which was weird even to him, as he would normally fight any human that tried to make him into just a service bot or a taxi. He did not feel that need with Jess though, and he had no idea why. Maybe it was because she was being so nice about dragging him out around the town.

"I'm surprised you don't mind my excessive chatter either, normally someone would have told me to put a sock in it at this point…" She said as she stopped at a red light.

Heatwave said nothing as he thought it was weird himself that he didn't tell her to be quiet, pretending to be a robot or no. He was not bothered by the least with her talking, it just showed how at ease she was around him and the other bots.

Normally people were afraid of them their first time seeing them, and he didn't blame them. The bots were like titans to the humans. They were much bigger and way more powerful than they could ever hope to be, so it made sense they had to pretend to be built by them to keep the idea of security that they were controllable.

Even if the idea made sense, that doesn't mean he has to like it. Supporting an idea and liking it are two very different things, a lesson Heatwave learned during his training on Cybertron. It has served him well as a leader to his team, and he was glad that it was working here on earth… even if it made him a little uncomfortable.

"You're a good listener, Heatwave. Thank you." She said as she pulled into the parking lot of the local grocery store. "I'll be a little bit Heatwave, if you don't mind waiting?"

She went to unbuckle her seatbelt, but Heatwave did it for her, he also opened the door for her as she giggled and called him a gentleman. Once she was out of his cab he just grumbled out a quick whatever to her giving him a compliment. He was just doing it to be nice to the family as payment for them always being nice to him. That was what he decided to go with, since she was nice he would be nice. No reason to make a big deal out of something small and insignificant , not like he felt anything else for the woman.

She was pretty, he would give her that. She didn't look a thing like the Burns family he knew, she had these beautiful almond shaped eyes that were a dark grey that reminded him nebulas he has seen during his space travels as a rescue bot for Cybertron first response. Her hair was also a jet black color, and had no waves or creases to it, unlick most of the women here on the island. Her genetic roots must come from a different origin, and he wanted to ask her where she got her appearances from.

He wanted to ask her about her medical training, and if she was born on the island why she left at all. He wanted to know what she thought of everything, of their home and of the bots. He wanted to know what she felt for him… and it upset him even more.

Why should he care what some human thinks of him? It doesn't matter in the grander scheme of things, and he could kick himself for even letting those thoughts creep into his processor. It had to have been a glitch, hopefully it would go away. They didn't have a medic on their team to fix something like that, and he would hate to call Optimus for something as trivial as a glitch.

He sighed to himself and looked at the time with his built in chronometer, she had been in that store for about forty-five minutes. That was a long time for Heatwave to just sit and do nothing, he preferred to keep his hands busy and help as much as he could. That was why he was a trained as a rescue bot and not a scout or spy. He hated being idle and doing nothing, it allowed his mind to wander to darker times he didn't want to think about anymore.

To keep his processor form going to dark places again, he thought about how he would need to clean his interior, as there was this weird itch forming between his seats again. It was probably from Kade eating inside him again, he always left crumbs and trash in his wake. He hated when the older Burns sibling did inconsiderate things like that and then did nothing to rectify the situation. It was one of his partners many flaws of personality, and no matter how many times Heatwave scolded him about it he just scoffed and denied he even did something wrong.

His processor began to betray him again as he thought that maybe if he played the robot shtick right he could convince her to clean out his seats and scuff out all these hard to reach places he couldn't get to on his own. He loved his sleek red paint job, and tried not to let his vanity show through to much as he tried to keep his gruff leader exterior up. It was a guilty pleaser he will not admit out loud if he could help it.

Her grip on his steering wheel was already gentle as she drove Cody to school, much different from the first time she drove him. The first time was sporadic and rushed as she tried to respond to emergencies as quickly as possible. She wasn't at all reckless, just not very gentle like she was earlier. She had a soft and easy grip as she drove, and each time she ran her hands down the wheel a little it was a fight not to shudder under her touch.

"Scrap…" he muttered to himself as he could feel his processor try and think about her more than he should have.

She was a human for Primus sake! A completely different species than he was, why was his processor thinking things like that? It must have been a glitch, he will look into it when he gets back to the firehouse, run a diagnostic on his systems to make sure everything was running correctly. If this was a serious glitch it could ruin his whole systems, and without a medic on his team they would have to wait for the one Optimus has to come and see. It might be too late to save him if it took to long to treat, and his team would have to find a new leader, and he would just fade from memory, and-

"Sorry that took so long." Jess said as she approached his cab with a cart full of grocery bags. "I ran into a few people I knew and started talking. Hope you didn't mind waiting?"

"No." it was a short answer as he opened the rear doors for her to place the food in, he was actually glad she pulled him out of his loop. No telling how long or how far his thoughts would have taken him.

As she loaded the groceries up he could feel every little touch she gave him, every little slide of her hand and stroke of her fingers. He wanted to shut off his nerve pathways so he didn't have to feel her hands on his seats but he couldn't bring himself to do it, even when some of the groceries were cold against him.

He checked his chronometer again and saw forty-five minutes jumped to about an hour and twenty five minutes. It would have upset him and he would have complained about how slow she was and how long he was just sitting there, but she was here now and they could head back to the firehouse now without any stops and that eased his temper a little, but he was still fuming about the potential glitch in his system.

"Alright. Last stop is home, thanks again Heatwave." She laughed as she pulled around the parking lot and out onto the main roads again. She patted the empty seat next to her as a gesture of good faith. "Technology is amazing, you know, but I get the feeling you are more than that."

Oh no, did he blow their cover somehow? Did he do or say something to make her question whether he was capable of emotions? Did he just screw things up between her and her family? What if she figured it all out and was going to blow up when they get back to the firehouse?

"I don't know if you understand me, but thank you for helping people here on the island, and for protecting my family when I can't be there." She smiled while looking at his face on the dashboard by the steering wheel.

He tried his hardest not to smile in return, as she placed her attention back on the road in front of her. It has never been this hard for him to pretend to be a robot to a human before… Sure he absolutely hates it and he doesn't like feeling fake like that, but this feels different. He feels like he is outright lying to her and it is starting to gnaw at him.

Heatwave has never been a very good liar, and he does not like lying to begin with. It's just another thing to add to the list of reasons he hates pretending to be a mindless machine. He can't return the gratitude this woman was showing him, he can't even crack a smile, or more realistically for him, just roll his eyes and grunt an angry "you're welcome".

Before he really had a grasp of how long his thoughts were racing he noticed they were back at the firehouse. Jess pulled Heatwave to a stop in the garage and opened his door. She began to pull her seemingly endless amount of bags from his back seat, as she had to make multiple trips from inside the house to his cab.

"Thanks again, Heatwave." She said while holding the last of her groceries and smiling exiting the room through the door that lead to the Burns family home.

Once she left the room he transformed and let out a breath he did not realize he was holding. What was with him, anyway? She was just a human like everyone else, a member of the Burns family to boot. She was well educated and trained to save people like the rest of her family.

She was like other humans, with long black hair that fell past her back when she let it hang loose like she did today. She wore it up yesterday, and he wondered why the human women didn't have their hair as long as she did. Maybe it was a convenience thing? It seemed like it would get in the way when times would get tough.

She had pale skin, like Dani and Chief Burns did, but hers had an interesting tint to it. It almost appeared to be pinker than the others, but that might be due to temperature changes or fluctuating heat within the human body. He knew enough about human anatomy to know a few things about that.

He was a rescue bot, after all, he had to know proper ways to care for the indigenous life he was sworn to protect. How much of an extreme temperature could they experience before perishing to the elements? What kind of atmospheric conditions are needed to keep them alive and healthy? He did his fair share of research on the internet, and was actual proud of himself for finding out the answers to those questions on his own.

"Yo, Heatwave!" Kade said as he came sauntering into the room, the sound of his voice pulled the bot from his processor as he looked down at his human partner.

"What's up?" Heatwave asked as he all too excitedly steer his attention away from the subject that his processor insists on thinking about. He really needs to talk to Optimus about this when he gets the chance.

After all, there was no reason to compare Jess to other humans! She was just another native life form that made up this crazy family of his. Nothing special that required his extended attention like she has been. Next time she asked him for a ride he will definitely say no, she can do her chores with Chase next time! He loves doing those domestic human things more than he does, sometimes those things seem like such a waste of time.

"Hey, Heatwave!" Kade yelled rather angrily at his robot.

"Ugh, what?!" Heatwave snapped back just as upset, Kade has no right to yell at him all the time like he does.

"I just asked you a question!" He said impatiently as Kade crossed his arm and began to tap his foot on the ground repeatedly.

"Oh… Uh…" Heatwave felt a little embarrassed, his mind being clouded with a certain femme yet again. He has to keep this on the down low until he can get it figured out, and Kade, especially, must never know.

"I asked if you were ready to head out on our patrol shift, but it looks like someone is a little out of it." Kade stated as he uncrossed his arms and watched as Heatwave transformed again and opened his door for Kade to climb into his cab.

"Let's just go." Heatwave grumbled as he drove away form the firehouse yet again to complete his shift of watching the island and making sure everyone is safe and unharmed.

* * *

Jess began to sort and put the food she bought away while thinking about what she will cook her family for dinner. She loved to cook healthy and filling food for the people around her, it was one of her hobbies to come up with new recipes that involve hiding healthy food in comfort food.

She learned as a child that Kade will not eat vegetables unless he has too, as that would be the condition placed to him before he was allowed to have desert. From many phone calls from her family it seems Cody is the same way as her and Kade. She also does not care for the taste of certain foods, and sometimes won't eat at all of the food on her plate.

She just never feels really hungry a lot of the time and she knows it just her mind playing tricks on her really. As a medical professional she knows how many calories she has to ingest to be able to function normally. She is well below the normal limit, but that is the beauty of the human body, she thinks.

That they are adaptable, able to work with what it is given. Abe to function with less than what it needs, and sometimes able to process more than what it needs without harming itself. With the few exceptions, the body was flexible and able to live in almost any environment. That is why she wanted to study medicine, because the human body was so very fascinating.

Once everything was packed and put away she began to clean the kitchen a little bit, small things like scrubbing the counters and finishing the dishes from the breakfast that morning. It was a good way for her to forget about some of her troubles she is facing.

School was difficult, and she was dreading going again for another semester. She was almost done with her school long ago, but she was undergoing training and it was hard for her. She was afraid to fail, afraid to mess something up and get someone hurt. Mostly, the older paramedics would tell her, it's just instinct.

You just go and help people without thinking about it, it's like riding a bike or driving a car. She is good with normal medical situations, but she was afraid of big accidents. Something more morbid than just a car crash or a fire… Well, that sounds bad when it's thought of like that.

Fires and Car Accidents are very big accidents and can hurt a lot of people, but she has heard stories from her fellow classmates and instructors about terrible things that they had no control over. That not everyone can be saved, and that was a hard thing to process.

Jess loved people, and itis always a tragedy when someone is hurt, or worse, passes away from something that was just bad timing. A lot of accidents are just that, an accident, and when a simple mistake causes people their lives… It's such a… catastrophe.

"Hi, Jess!" Jess jumped a few feet in the air as she whipped around to find a smiling Cody in the doorway for the room. She laughed at her own jumpiness and greeted him with a big hug. She lost track of time it seems, as it was already well passed 3 in the afternoon. She would have to prepare for dinner soon, as everyone was most likely going to be home around five.

"How was school today, Cody?" Jess asked as she put a plate with a small portion of cheese and crackers for him to munch on as he pulled out his homework from his backpack that he placed on the table next to him. She sat in the empty chair next to him and pulled out her phone and sent a message to her Mother.

She always worried about Jess a lot, especially when she was so far away from home. Jess thought it was weird since technically she was home, but her mother was a lot like Uncle Woodrow. They never liked to stay in one place for long. They never liked to feel tied down, and preferred the big bustling cities of the mainland to the small and semi quiet environment of the island.

"It was good, I passed my math test from last week. Good thing I studied, because it was a pretty difficult test, and not everyone in my class passed it." He said triumphantly as he began to munch on the food she put in front of him.

"That is great, Cody. I am proud of you! Especially because math is a hard subject to master!" She laughed as she felt her phone vibrate in her palm, she glanced down and noticed a new message from her Mother popped up. She opened it and let her eyes scan lazily over her phone's dimly lit screen.

She liked keeping the phone on a low brightness because it helped to save the battery and make the power last long. She always forgot to plug in her phone before she laid down to sleep, and it has bitten her more than once, but it seems that is a lessons she will never really learn most likely.

 _'_ _While you are on the Island, why not visit that one friend you used to always hang out with.'_

Jess stopped for a moment and read over the text again and again, surely her Mom did not mean the one person she did not really like on the island. The one person whom decided to use her for their own personal gain while pretending to be her best friend…

"Don't worry, I can teach you anything you need to know about math. I am pretty good at it." Cody said as he finished his small snack and began to pull out his notebook and his few sheets of homework left for him to do over the weekend.

"That would be wonderful, dude. I'm going to go step out for a while. You will be good here by yourself for a little bit?" She asked as she stood and ruffled her cousin's hair.

"Sure, Dad will be home any minute anyway." He said as he began to work on his math problems and small English report. English was never his favorite subject, but he will try to complete the assignment anyway. It was just a simple ' _Pick an important person in your life and write about them'_.

Jess smiled and began to walk out of the door and onto the garage driveway just outside of the firehouse. She loved Cody, and she did not want him to see her break down and lose her cool over a simple thing as an old friend turned toxic.

She sent her Mother a reply test, _'The one that used me, and made me feel bad about myself? That friend?',_ as soon as she sent the message she regretted it though. She loved her Mother, but she had a hard time understanding Jess' feelings, and always said that she was overly emotional and a little dramatic.

Sure, she was more on the emotional side than she was the logical side, but that did not mean she was invalid in her feelings and actions… Right? Sometimes Kade even told her she needs to chill out sometimes, and that she needs to stop thinking with her heart and more with her brain.

She can't help it most of the time, it was just who she was. She was so full of love and compassion that she had the side effects of feeling emotions a little stronger than others around her. In reality, she absolutely hated it, but she knew deep down it made her special in her own way.

Sometimes it is hard to see that trait as special, as it has mostly caused her nothing but trouble. It has helped to shape who she is though, as it is one if the reasons she wanted to become a doctor. She loved to help people, and she loved seeing there people full of emotions like she was.

 _'_ _Oh posh, Jess. It has been years since that has happened. It's time to grow up and let bygones be bygones.'_ Her Mother replied as she looked at the message on her screen once again. Jess just sighed and ran a hand through her hair in frustration, her Mom wasn't going to be someone who understood this about her.

Jess looked up and noticed the sky was going to get dark soon, and night would befall the small island that she found herself on once again. She truly was grateful to be back, but with the good comes the bad, as one cannot exist without the other.

She loves her home here, and with life comes tragedy, as Jess can remember clearly what happened when she was still in High School with Kade. The two of them were very close, ever since they were young kids. It might have to do with the fact they were in the same age group, or the fact they spent the most time together, but whatever it was she knew she and Kade were always going to be best friends… No matter what he said about it.

In the end she will always love her family, but sometimes they were a handful when it came to understanding emotions, but as they say, no one is perfect. Her family included, no matter what people saw on the outside, because it's what's on the inside that matters.

 _'_ _Hey, Jess! It's me, Veronica. I heard you were back in town and I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out?'_ Jess read that message over and over again on her phone. During the little rant in her head she noticed a new message from an unknown number.

How did she get her number? Why would she want to talk to her when it has literally been years since they last spoke? Why now? Why when she is trying to reconnect with her family does _she_ decide to pop her head in for a spell to speak with Jess?

Jess was startled out of her thoughts as a car horn was heard in front of her. It was Uncle Charlie, along with everyone else, coming home from their shifts at work. Jess smiled and stepped out of the way to make room for the cars to pull into the garage.

For now she is going to put Veronica out of her mind and away from any thoughts she is going to have later. This was about her and her family, not past mistakes and problems she doesn't want to think about. She watched as everyone came in to the building and come out of their respective vehicles.

"Welcome back, everyone." Jess smiled as she put her phone back into the pocket of her jeans. She just won't think about it, it was that simple…

"Hey, Jess. How was your day?" Dani asked as she walked over and placed a hand on her cousin's shoulder.

"Pretty good, I bought food but I wanted to wait till you all got back before making anything." Jess replied as she turned to enter the house followed by the rest of the family.

"Jess, why don't you let me cook this time?" Uncle Charlie asked as he put his hand on her shoulder as they all entered the house one at a time, their voices slowly fading away from the garage as the rescue bots let out an audible sigh and dropped their act.

Blades was the first to speak as Boulder flipped the switch for the platform to lower into the bunker of the Firehouse. "So, how was everyone's day?"

"Surprisingly good, I have noticed fewer and fewer citizens have been breaking the law." Chase said as he walked away to the book case to grab another book on police code to gloss over for the fifteenth time. He likes to be diligent when it comes to the law and police regulations, as he knows one can never be too careful when it comes to rules.

"That's good, what about you Boulder?" Blades asked as he continued to stand where he was as he watched Boulder walk off to take care of his green friend Leady. He loved the plants and animals of Earth, they were so different from the ones on Cybertron. There were parallels to the animals, but nothing compared to the plants of the Earth.

"It went well, Graham and I helped to find faults in a few old buildings that the city was planning refurbishing." He said as he let his large finger stroke the leaf of his plant friend. Nothing looked or felt like the foliage here, and maybe that is why he liked it so much, as unique things tended to be the most amazing.

"Nice, Heatwave?" Blades asked but he noticed the leader was already out of the room and into the communication chambers. Blades might be naïve sometimes, but he was not stupid, as he was the first to notice Heatwave was trying to get transferred out of their unit and onto Prime's team in Nevada. It hurt him a lot, to know that Heatwave doesn't love them enough to stay.

* * *

Heatwave grumbled to himself about his stupid processor and having a stupid glitch while he began to boot up the console on the Sigma. He began to run a diagnostic scan of his processor as the system came online to do so, and he could barley stand still as the diagnostic began to run it's course.

What if he did have a bad glitch? Would it hurt his chances of becoming a member of Team Prime? He would hope not, as most glitches in the processor are beyond prevention and are generally an easy fix. It was just like fixing a virus on a computer, just a simple repurposing of files and defragmentation and you are done.

There are more permanent glitches though, one's associated with heavy Cybernetic Narcotics usage. He is clean however, and has never touched CN in his entire existence, and he has never put anything in his body besides medium grade Energon. He had High Grade once, but one time use is not enough to cause a system to crash, and it was so long ago it wouldn't even matter.

The console let out a low ping noise as it indicated the diagnostic was complete. Heatwave only sighed as it came up completely clean, he was glitch and bug free. Is this something he needed to call Optimus about? Maybe it was because he was tired, as he hasn't been getting much recharge lately with all the commotion of Jess' arrival to the Island.

He is surprised his team hasn't started to ask questions about her, as they have to have known they were out together this morning running errands. Unless they don't know, in which case, he won't say a word about it. It is better this way, as he doesn't want to think or talk about her at the moment. At least until he can sort his processor out.

After diner was done, and most of the Burns family settled down to sleep, Jess sat awake on the couch in her pink fuzzy pajamas. She was reading over the conversation her and her mother had over and over again while trying to figure out what to do. She never responded to Veronica's text, mainly because she wasn't sure how.

Should she listen to her Mother, and have faith that people really do change over time, and that she really is just being petty and dramatic? Is it the right thing to do, to contact a long ago lost friend in hopes that maybe they too thought the entire situation over and regretted how it was handled?

Maybe she should follow her gut, and ignore what her Mother said and continue to ignore Veronica. She would ask Uncle Charlie, but he is so busy dealing with his own children and his own problems she doesn't want to burden anyone with her own issues. She also doesn't want to go to Kade because he was already embarrassed with the situation before, and he is just like her, in the sense he prefers to leave past feelings in the past and to just simply move on from them and not let them consume you.

She placed her phone on her lap while locking the screen and looked to the clock on the cable box in the living room, as it read 3:00 am. She was one of those people who did not get tired around bed time, and tended to stay awake with her thoughts whenever they plagued her like they do now.

Maybe getting some fresh air will do her head some good, as she enjoys being outside when the weather is clear and the air isn't too brisk or too warm. She stood and slipped on her tennis shoes over her equally pink socks and pulled her university jacket over her head.

She placed her phone in her pocket as she quietly made her way over to the garage door. Uncle Charlie was kind of a light sleeper, and so was Dani. She would hate to wake them up when they have morning patrol to go on in a few hours. She slowly slid open the door and slipped out quietly as she shut if with a soft clicking sound.

She jumped and placed a hand over her chest when she turned around and saw Heatwave standing there motionless in the dark garage. She laughed quietly as she began to walk towards the robot, patting his leg when she got near him.

"Hey, Heatwave." She laughed as she pulled her sweater down a little bit "What are you doing up here? I thought the bots were stored down below?" she asked while looking up to watch his face.

"Early morning patrol, preemptively prepared." He replied in his monotone robotic voice. Truthfully he couldn't recharge either, as he had so many thought running through his processor. It was always one after another, which lead to some pretty dark thoughts like was he worthy of being a leader? Was he good enough to impress a Prime?

He felt bad he couldn't tell her the truth though, that he was a thinking and functioning being that understood what she said. He hates pretending, but with her it felt more like a big lie that he could feel pull them deeper and deeper away from the truth. It hasn't really been discussed if they will let Jess in on the little family secret like they did with Woodrow.

"That's nice, I couldn't sleep. Got too much on my mind." She said as she rested her back on his leg and pulled out her cellphone once again. "It's kind of stupid really… Just me being dramatic or whatever." She sighed as she stroked her phone's screen with her thumb softly.

He wanted to know what was bothering her, but he had to pretend to be a robot around her until the cyber cat was out of the sack. From what he has seen, she was not dramatic, a little passionate maybe. Not dramatic. Some humans can take passion as drama and that was another thing he did not like about them.

It was such a waste to let such emotional beings destroy themselves because there was a split between their sparks and their processors. With Cybertronians it was easy to think both logically and emotionally because normally their "brains" and "hearts" were synched.

Humans did not have that luxury in their society, it was either you were too logical or too dramatic. Too logical just meaning they are to analytical, to good at seeing through people who did not always make sense. Too dramatic meaning they are to passionate about what they love and too emotionally involved in what they are doing.

These are not inherently bad traits, but apparently they were to humans. Their societies were so broken he did not know how they survived. Then again, Cybertron was not perfect wither, after all a civil war destroyed their planet and now they are stuck on this rock picking up the pieces of their existence.

Jess let out an audible yawn as she rubbed her eyes on her jacket sleeve and stretched her other arm in the air. Heatwave thought for a moment it looked a little cute, but immediately shut off that part of his processor. He needs to contact Optimus tomorrow after shift. These thoughts were getting out of hand.

"I think I am finally tired, god night Heatwave." She said as she stood up straight and gave a small pat to his leg. He could feel a cold spot forming where she stood and felt a little sad.

She proceeded quietly through the door and was gone just as fast as she appeared, Heatwave had his visor rise as he stared at the door. He had the overwhelming urge to tell her it will be ok, and that whatever was bothering her she was valid in her feelings.

He really needed to take care of this glitch in his system.

* * *

 **Chapter 2 is written and ready to go, sorry for any diction errors and punctuation messes. I have work in a few hours and had to be quick.**

 **Also let me just say, I am writing this for me, it's not for you. I am glad you enjoy it but telling me to "hurry up and finish" wont make me want too. In fact it will make me not want to.**

 **Let me put it this way, I have bills to pay, I have mouths to feed, I have school work to do. I write this when I have the inspiration too, which is rare when it happens. I wont abandon this story, but it will be awhile between updates. Work and real life doesn't come with vacations.**


	3. Validation is Key Part II

**Chapter Warning; More heavy and hard subjects and themes will make appearances in this story, rating upped from K+ to T (May become higher later)**

* * *

-Chapter 3- Validation is Key part II

 _Quotes about emotional validation_

The next morning was similar to the last, everyone leaving to do their shifts on the island. The only family left in the house was Cody and Jess, just sitting in the kitchen chatting about little things like her studies and his school work.

Cody has not changed much since she last visited the Island, which is a pretty good thing. That most likely means that he will not have trouble figuring himself out when he grows older, it is a blessing really. A lot of people never figure out what they really want to do with themselves.

It's not a bad thing, not knowing what to do with the life you have; it just makes things a little more challenging for a while. It will feel like everyone around you knows what to do and how to do it, and you will just sit there wondering what it is you are meant to do. It also just means you get to try so many different things, and that idea in itself is exciting and fun. Which will you like better, maybe it will be retail, maybe it will be nursing, and it could even be something off the wall like animal care. The stereotype that one has to know what they want since childhood is a bad stereotype. Sometimes the fun of life was getting to experience all the things it has to offer before you settle down and make the choice of careers and jobs.

"I'm just not very good at this kind of thing…" Cody sighed as be looked down at the blank paper in front of him.

"I think as long as you try it will turn out ok." Jess said as she pulled out her phone and played a small game to pass the time.

Believe it or not, nothing exciting was planned for today. Jess just wanted to relax at home with her favorite little cousin. Maybe watch a movie and eat some junk food while laughing at nothing, just enjoying each others company. She hasn't had enough lazy days lately due to her job and school, and she knows everyone else is just as busy. Being able to spend quality time with her family was precious, even if they did nothing but sit around and do absolutely nothing.

"I hope so…" Cody said as he started writing on his paper.

"I know so." Jess said as she continued to play her game on her phone. She was in the middle of a puzzle when her phone vibrated as indication she had a message waiting for her to read when she had a chance.

She mentally shrugged and decided to put her game on hold as she checked the message despite the gnawing feeling of anxiety creeping into her mind. Since last night she has been afraid to check her messages, and she wasn't entirely sure why she felt such anxiety coursing through her mind. She was a grown woman, after all, she had no reason to feel such things like a deep sense dread and panic. She should have grown out of it, or at least that is what her mother said.

As the menu popped up she scrolled through what was unread. Two messages from her Mother, a message from one of her college instructor, three from one of her friends back home, and one from the number from last night she didn't want to think about. She had to hold her breath as she felt the panic rising in her head again, she decided to read that message last as she pulled up the ones from her friend.

The three messages from her friend Celina were the ones she actually wanted to read, as she was one of her best friends from the mainland. Celina was studying to be a neuro surgeon, and she was working on her paramedic stuff on the side. Jess really admired Celina's tenacity and determination, and was glad she had such a kind roommate like her. They were renting out a small apartment together closer to the school campus so they didn't have to have a dorm. It was cheaper in the long run, at least the way Jess calculated it to be, she wasn't always the best at math.

 _'Hey, you totally missed it! Caleb actually talked to me… me!'_

 _'Ha OMG I passed all my classes! When you get back we have to celebrate!'_

 _'Sooo, that foreign exchange student asked me about you! He thinks you're cute, when you get back you should totally go out with him!'_

Jess laughed as she read her friend's messages, leave it to Celina to make her feel at ease. She was not only a good student, but a good friend as well. She could be pushy at times, but that was just a small part of who she was, and all her good traits outweigh her bad ones. Her nosiness into Jess' love life should be addressed as well, but she couldn't help but smile at her friend's antics.

She wasn't feeling as bad at this moment as she replied with a short _'I've only been gone two days and you already fall apart :p'_. She smiled as she pictured her friend in her mind laughing at her message while shaking her head back and forth. Returning to do whatever it was she was doing before being interrupted by Jess' text.

She returned to the message menu and read the one from her college professor, one that she respected greatly, as he was very experienced in his field of study. He instructed an introduction level medicine course as well as an intermediate level of chemistry, both a requirement for all EMTs in training. He was also in charge of a few clubs on campus, including one she was president of.

Jess was in charge of the Cooking club, as she was there to help the school cater special events held on campus. It keels her busy when she is not in her classes, and she doesn't like to be too idle sometimes. It can get demanding at times but she enjoyed seeing people made happy by the food she prepared.

 _'Have a good break Jess, don't forget when you get back we need to prepare an event for the fall club party on campus.'_

She smiled and sent a reply; ' _I won't forget. I will start right away when I get back'_. He always worried about the reputation of the club, and he tended to forget that Sherry is just a good a cook as she is. She is more than capable of handling big events on her own like that. She has seen Jess do it many times, and the college sophomore has proven herself ready to take control of an event.

Jess let out a small breath as she read the messages from her mother, hoping that it wasn't anything that could ruin her perfect day. Its not really her mothers fault more than her own, at least that is what she thinks. Jess just needed to get her anxiety under control, that is what she told herself anyway as she pulled the messages up.

' _Tell Charlie to call me when he gets back to the house please'_

 _'I think he is ignoring me again…'_

Jess let out a small breath and smiled, her mother must have forgotten what happened yesterday. Or she just did not know the implications it had on Jess in her mind. To be fair, not a lot of people understand what goes on in Jess' mind, as she tends to think with more emotion than even she is comfortable with sometimes.

Jess typed a simple response of, ' _When he gets back I will make sure he calls you right away'_ and hit send with a small smile on her face. She was about to read the next text and felt her hand shake a little bit before she could stop it from doing so. Her anxiety reaching a new peak she wished it hadn't needed to explore.

As she was in the message menu of her phone she heard a loud bang as the door to the garage busts open, and Kade saunters in with a goofy grin on his face. Jess welcomed the distraction from her phone and put it away in her pocket of the black high waist shorts she wore today.

Cody also looked up and noticed Kade had an interesting look on his face, as he turned to look at Jess with a quizzical look. Jess only giggled and shrugged as Kade reached into the cabinet to find whatever snack he could grab at. Jess sighed, as Kade could eat almost anything if he really wanted to, he was far from picky like she tended to be.

As he began to munch on a bag of chips while leaning on the counter, Jess decided to be the first to quench the two at the table's curiosity. "You are home early… And you seem very happy about something." Jess said as she watched his reaction to her question worded as a statement.

"Yeah I am! Dad said I could cut my patrol early, so as soon as I finish with my snack I am going to get ready for a nice date with Hayley." Kade said as he scarfed the rest of the chips down quickly.

Jess had to hold from gagging watching him just shovel food away like that, she could barely stand the smell of those barbecue chips, let alone watching someone eat them with as much gusto as her cousin did. "I hope your eating manners are better when you are around your date." Jess said as she turned away while smiling a little at her own dramatic behavior.

"I will have you know I am a perfect gentleman." Kade said as he threw the bag away in the trash bin and walked out of the room with a kick in his step. She swore she heard him humming to himself, but she might have just been hearing things.

Jess remembered Hayley fairly well; they hung out a few times in High School, but not enough to be called best friends or anything. She was a nice girl with a big interest botany and science, and Jess remembered Kade having the biggest crush on her since they were freshman. How he convinced her to go on a date with him now she will never know, but it made Jess happy to know that Kade was happy and seeing someone he really liked.

Her last relationship did not end very well, as all her ex wanted was a physical relationship. She never wanted to go out and see movies or even stay in and order food and just hang out. It was always the need to touch and feel Jess in a way that made her uncomfortable. She really did like Lucy, but she was just too demanding and touchy feely for her taste.

She never really told her family about Lucy either, as she felt they would not accept and understand Jess' decisions in the people she decided to date. She loved her family to death, but something like that could really throw everyone for a loop, and she just never wanted to deal with it really. The past is in the past however, and she did eventually tell her mother about it. She just said she was proud of Jess for not letting anyone force themselves out of her comfort zone without her consent, and that she did not care about Jess' choice in the dating world and that as long as she was happy than so was she.

To this day it still brings a tear to her eye how accepting her mother was and still is of her life choices, but ever since that relationship she has pretty much avoided dating all together. High school was the same way, as she was too focused on school and friends to worry about dates and connections with someone on a romantic level. Jess is content connecting with people on a platonic level, maybe it was because she feels so deeply that to her it is almost like experiencing romantic attraction.

She wasn't sure, as things like romantic relationships and even platonic friendships can get quiet complicated and she would rather not get into it right now. Subjects for another day, as she would much rather focus on the family relationship she has with her right now in the firehouse.

As she was about to engage Cody in another small conversation she saw he already packed up all his belongings in his bag and was standing up to place his pack onto his back. Jess was about to ask what he was up to when he said Frankie sent him a message asking if he wanted to do homework with her, and he said he would love to. Jess laughed and waved bye as he rushed out the door and to his friend's house, it is good that he has relationships outside the family. While she was growing up all she really had was Kade and sometimes Dani, never really liked to communicate outside of her family much until she hit her sophomore year of High School.

She stood up and wiped the table clean of any crumbs from the small snack of cookies she and Cody shared earlier, while washing the plate and putting it away to use later. She looked out the window and noticed it was a rather nice day out, maybe nice enough for her to take a walk around town. It looked a little warm so she might change out of her long sleeve white shirt and into a tank top.

She was standing in the Living room when Kade came down wearing a pair of jeans and a simple black shirt. She paid him no mind as she began to dig through her suit case while she sat on the couch to see if she could find her favorite tank top. It was a pretty light pastel pink one with a big button on the right shoulder, it was her favorite because it was so just so simple and cute.

She started to think she forgot to pack it when Kade roughly sat down next to her, spread comfortably on the couch. It caused her to cease her search and look up at her cousin with an apprehensive look, he wants something. She can tell by the way he is trying to act casually around her, as Kade acting casual and being casual were two very different things.

"Spit it out." She said as she continued to pull out more cloths than she remembered packing. It was a last minute pack run, so maybe she really did forget her shirt.

"So I have my date right, in like five minutes." Kade began as Jess looked up at him with a curious look on her face "And earlier, Heatwave and I got a little messy doing a rescue on the scenic route around the island. Nothing big, just cleaning up after a mud slide..."

He was dancing around what he wanted her to do so she just sighed and sat up straight while she gave him all her attention. She thinks she knows where this is going, and to be honest she has nothing better to do today, but he should take care of his vehicle friend and not make her do it…

"Can you wash Heatwave please?" Kade asked as he turned to face her completely and look at her with his sad puppy dog eyes.

"Kade…" Jess sighed as she placed her palm on her forehead while shaking her head back and forth "Why can't you just cancel your date with Hayley to clean the bot yourself?"

"Do you know how hard it is to get her to go out with me? Please Jess. Please!" He said as he continued his sad look that he knew would break her. She always said yes to doing his chores, he knew she had nothing better to do anyway besides sit around and wait for everyone to come home later.

"…Fine, Kade, But don't make a habit of asking me to do your chores while I'm here." Jess said while she pulled out her swim top and a pair of swimming shorts. She stood up to go into the restroom to change as she heard Kade shout his thanks. When she was in the Bathroom she heard the door shut and sighed as she put on her swim suit.

It was a blue and green stripped bikini top she bought a few years back, and a pair of short black swimming trunks that fell a little above her mid-thigh area. She pulled out a hair tie from her suit case earlier and began to tire her hair up into a messy pony tail. She is going to have to shower after this, she can feel it, and Kade does not have the greatest track record for cleanliness.

Once she came out of the bathroom she grabbed a bucket and a few cleaning tools from the small utilities closet in the kitchen and made her way into the open garage to find a very dirty Heatwave parked by the hose to make it easier to wash him. "I swear Kade, you have got to be the most filthy and inconsiderate person on the planet sometimes…" She muttered as she placed the bucket next to the hose.

She took out her phone that was sticking out of the pockets of her shorts and put it on a small table nearby so it wouldn't get wet. She then reached up high on a nearby shelf to reach the soap and wax to start the job of cleaning and washing this bot. No doubt she will need a vacuum to clean out the interior as well, if she knew Kade as well as she thinks she does, there are bound to be fingerprints and crumbs all over Heatwave.

"Alright, Heatwave" Jess said as she filled the bucket with warm water and picked up the sponge from the now full bucket. She then put some soap in the mix and got some suds going on the sponge to scrub the caked on dirt off of Heatwave's beautiful paint job. "Let's get this gunk off of you, bud."

She began where she could reach without having to maneuver too much to reach the high places. The side of his body were first as she scrubbed with a little force to get all of the dirt off of his frame. Once she finished with one side she started on the other, making sure to let some soap suds sit on some hard stains and hope she can get them out this way, if not she is going to have to pull out the detail buff from one of the containers in the room.

Her family always took pride in keeping their vehicles clean and maintained, as it showed that there was care in the appearance of the cities rescue force. Jess began to clean the harder to reach places and had to climb on top of Heatwave to reach the areas. She picked out leaves and rocks from his windshield, she has had to wash big vehicles by hand before, since her father was in the market of big rigs and semi-trucks. She is no stranger to big vehicles or driving them, as it was kind of a requirement from her father to learn to drive them.

Once she finished cleaning the hood she slid off with ease as his wet frame made it easy to slip around, and she would have giggled if she wouldn't feel like she would embarrass herself. She doesn't know why, but she feels like someone is watching her, not that she minds, as company is always welcome. She is just a little self-conscious about some of the weird things she does sometimes. Her mother calls them quirks; she calls them abnormal actions caused by a small lapse in judgment.

How sometimes she will sing to herself the cheesiest pop songs she remembers hearing on the radio while she is cooking, and sometimes she even does a silly dance while holding the utensils in her hand as a microphone. She has caught herself doing it many times, and other people have caught her doing it as well. She gets so flustered when others call her out on it, as she hates those dumb little things she does.

She dunked the sponge in the clean water and rung it out, walking up to Heatwave's grill to try and get it as shiny as possible. Once that was all done she took the hose and began to spray the soap and suds off his frame. Most of the mud and dirty came off with ease, but there were a few trouble spots she noticed that would require more attention. She put the hose back down and began to scrub at the stains again with a bristled brush she was able to locate not far from where the soap was.

It took a little longer to get rid of the spots, but once she had she smiled to herself and pulled out a dry microfiber rag. She began to run it across Heatwave in order to avoid any type of hard water stain or streaks that might have resulted from the rinsing she did. He was back to being shiny and red again and Jess smiled proudly at the work she has done.

"I'll be right back, Heatwave. I need to grab a vacuum to clean out your interior." She said as she walked back into the house to see if she could find a small vacuum to take outside.

Once she was inside Heatwave let out a breath he was holding in his vents as he shuddered a little from all the attention she was giving him. She knew what she was doing, that was for sure, as she must have experience in keeping paint on a vehicle sparkly and nice. He noticed she had a container of wax and a buff brush out as well. Kade never did that for him, and just rinsed him and called it good.

Earth doesn't have wash racks like they did back on Cybertron, and it was really difficult to clean ones self without the proper facilities to do so. Using water and fancy soaps instead of the special compounds and minerals found on Cybertron was more difficult than he thought. It was a little upsetting at first, having to rely on the humans to keep him clean; it was demining in a way. Heatwave found he liked it sometimes though; it felt like he was being pampered and treated like a noble would be back home.

At least when Dani or Graham helped to wash him, Kade just kind of spray the hose on him for a few minutes and said it was a job well done. Jess looks like she is going to do a thorough job of cleaning him, and he can't help but feel excited about the next part of the treatment. She would vacuum and clean the inside of his cab, scrub his rims until they sparkle, and then wax and buff his frame until it shines.

There was that voice in his processor screaming at him to not let her touch him, and to make her stop and to leave him alone. Right now, the other voice, the one that wants to be pampered is winning the internal fight as he waits for her to return with more tools to continue washing him. He didn't have to wait for long until she came back out pulling a small hand held vacuum with her.

Heatwave was tempted to turn off the sensors in his cabin again as she opened his door and climbed in. He ignored it as she began to use the small machine to get rid of all the gunk and dirt that has collected between his seats over the last cycle he has been on earth. It felt nice to finally be rid of that annoying itch he has had to deal with for the past few weeks. He is for sure this time not going to let Kade anywhere near him with any kind of food, as that guy can make a mess out of anything he is holding.

Once Jess was done she wiped off a few prints and spots that appeared on Heatwave's dash, how Kade let his robot partner get this bad was beyond her, but it was in the past now and there was nothing she could do about it. Once she made her way out of his cabin, and gently closing his door, she began to use a special brush to clean the scud off of his rims and using a special silver polish to make them shine like they were brand new. She smiled as she finished the last of his rims, seeing her faint reflection in the sterling metal that made up the inner part of his tire.

She was about to pull the canister of wax open when she heard her phone go off on the table nearby. She forgot she brought that in here with her, and placed the canister back on the ground before wiping her hands on a rag she had sticking out of her pocket.

She picked up her phone and she felt herself freeze as she let out a loud sigh, she really did not want to deal with this right now. She decided she needed some form of comfort to be around her before she read the new message, so she sat next to Heatwave and leaned against him for support.

"Here we go again." Jess muttered to herself as she pulled up the messaged from the unknown number she wished she could just forget. Veronica. The one she was closest to that was outside of her family, and the one person whom has hurt her arguably the most out of her life.

Lucy hurt her, but she was not as attached to Lucy as she was Veronica. She and Veronica were never anything more than friends, but Jess put a lot of emotional attachments in their deep and wonderful friendship. In the end it didn't matter, and she just tossed Jess out like she was trash after she refused to help her get what she wanted. She was just a toxic friend; Jess has come to conclude, and really just wanted to never hear from her again.

"Oh, Heatwave, Sometimes I wish people would just go away. You feel me?" She chuckled as she just decided to click the message to get it over with. Her palm becoming a little moist and shaking a little, her phone blinking at her that it's battery was low also did not help her feel at ease about the situation either.

Heatwave sympathized with her in that moment, as he had some bots he knew that he wished would just disappear from his life. Technically they did, as Cybertron is now a lifeless hunk of rock floating in space with no one living there. It didn't bother him as much as he thought it would, at first he was upset that Cybertron was gone, but he was never really there once he became a full fledged rescue bot.

He was always in space or in the nearby colonies in the solar system surrounding Cybertron. His home world did not hold very many good memories for him, and sometimes he is glad it is gone. He is not glad the war started and that many innocent bots died for no reason, but it felt like a fresh start for him and his team, a fresh start with a new Prime leader. Besides, Earth wasn't so bad, it had its moments where he thought it could be one of the best planet in the universe.

Heatwave couldn't help his curiosity and moved his mirrors as subtly as he could so he can catch a glimpse of what Jess phone said that made her seem upset. From what he has seen of Jess, she seems to rarely let things get to her, at least on the outside. He was the same in that sense; things bothered him more on a deeper level than they do on the surface. It was something other bots just didn't understand about him, as a big mech like him wasn't supposed to feel things as deeply as he does. It was all a load of scrap; he can feel whatever he wanted to feel, no matter what those Primus damned others thought.

He read that there were no replies from Jess, and he saw the first message as marked from yesterday that said _'Hey, Jess! It's me, Veronica. I heard you were back in town and I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out?'._ Heatwave noticed Jess did note respond to the message, and two more from today where on the screen as well.

 _'Come on Jess, I really want to see you again. I am sorry about what I did…'_

 _'I am leaving Griffon Rock in a few days to go to college and all I want to do is talk to you, honestly.'_

It got curiosity running through his processor as he wondered who this Veronica was, and what she did to Jess to make her seem to be upset at them. She is best friends with Kade after all, so Jess must have the patience and understand of Primus. It really made him want to ask, but one that would prove he was snooping and he didn't want to get on her bad side before he even got properly introduced to her. The other reason was because she didn't know they were robots from another planet yet, and there was still no discussion of when they would let her in on the secret.

If Heatwave had his way she would have been notified as soon as she got to the house on the first night she was here, but it was not his choice to make. It should be though, considering it was his team that was what was being kept secret. There was just not a good time to bring it up for discussion, as the family was kept busy as always trying to keep this crazy place semi under control.

"What should I do?" Jess asked out loud as she locked her phone's screen and placed it in her lap "Should I just talk to her and get it over with, or should I just ignore it?" She began as she relaxed against Heatwave completely. She could swear he was warm, but it was probably just her, he was a truck after all. They don't produce body heat like human's do, she must be so stressed out that it is affecting her sense.

It wouldn't be the first time.

"Am I just being petty in holding this grudge? Am I really justified in not wanting to see her again?" Jess asked herself as she starred up at the ceiling in the garage. She hated talking to herself, but sometimes it made her feel better. She felt like someone was listening, and in a way it made her feel better, but in another way it made her think someone must think she is crazy.

Heatwave wanted to so bad ask for clarification on her situation, as maybe he could help put her running mind at ease. He feels the need to make her calm down and explain her thoughts to him, and he had no idea why. Maybe it was that glitch he thinks he has, and that scares him more than it should.

Processor glitches are deadly when untreated and can result in a lot of issues for any bot that has them. He thought that keeping healthy with regular energon and staying active would protect him from his lineage's history with messed up processors. He should call Optimus when he gets the chance to make sure everything is ok, and if it is ok he will gladly indulge in the need to be friends with Jess.

"I'm going to do it!" Jess said as she stood up suddenly, startling Heatwave out of his thoughts "I am going to see her." Jess said as she sent a simple reply to the last message.

 _'We can talk in an hour, after I get dressed. Meet me by the bakery downtown.'_

She hit send before she actually thought about it, and felt her blood run cold in her body. Did she really just do that? What if this was a huge mistake? She felt like she was going to be sick, but the small notification noise made her stop for a moment as she read the new message.

 _'No problem. I will see you then!'_

"I think I am going to be sick." Jess said as she nearly tripped running back into the house to hide for a little while before she had to meet the obligation she just made. Maybe she could take Heatwave with her… That would make her feel a little better as she sat on the couch to reach into her suitcase to grab a fresh pair of cloths.

For now she was just going to shower and change into some fresh cloths. She doesn't expect anyone to be home for quite a while now, and before she went into the bathroom she plugged her phone in so it could get a little bit of a charge. Her shower was short, as she just washed her body and hair quickly.

She put her still wet hair in a bun so it would not ruin her fresh cloths, as she did not have time to properly dry it. Her hair would knot later, but that was an issue for another time when she wasn't feeling her breakfast coming back up. Why was she so anxious? She needs to just woman up and not be afraid of the past anymore!

After all, High school was such a long time ago that she felt she should have gotten over it. She was an adult now, with responsibilities and a job, and what happened between them happened when they were just kids. Kids tended to not think before they acted, and sometimes hurt people close to them without meaning to.

She meant to hurt Jess though.

She shook her head and dressed quickly in a pair of black jogging pants with a red strip running up the side. She also put on a simple pink shirt that said 'Fabu' on the chest. She pulled her university jacket over to complete the 'I was in a rush and needed to dress quickly' look. It made her feel a little self-conscious, as she liked to put a little effort in the way she looked. She thought she was decent looking, and hated looking like she didn't care about how she looked.

She checked her phone and noticed she only had ten minutes left before she had to be down town. It took about five minute to drive there, if she hit all the green lights on the way over there. She sighed as she grabbed her purse and put her phone and wallet inside as she slipped on her simple pink running shoes she left sitting by the door.

"Hey, Heatwave" Jess said as she came out of the door noticing the mess she left. She felt bad for that, and made a promise to make this place spotless to make up for it. "Care for a small trip into town with me… It shouldn't take long."

He said nothing as he popped his driver's side door open and ignited his engine for her. He could feel the curiosity eating at his processor now, and he wanted to see this situation through. He felt Jess crawl in and buckle he seat belt as she place her purse in the seat next to her.

As she began to drive away from the Firehouse she felt bad for leaving such a big mess and leaving unannounced, but she should be back before anyone else came home. It was just a quick conversation she kept replaying in her head. A simple 'hey how are you, oh that is nice, well see you later' kind of deal. That was all she needed and wanted, and she could feel bad about it later.

Driving up to the bakery as she parked on the street next to the building with the big glass pane that read 'Mr. Pfeiffer's bakery'. While she was here she should pop in to say hello to the older man, as she remembers coming here all the time as kid and getting little treats after school. To this day, other pastries never tasted the same since she ate Mr. Pfeiffer's cupcakes.

She sat in Heatwave as she waited to see if she could see any signs of Veronica anywhere. She tapped his steering wheel nervously as she watched the sidewalk like a hawk. It bothered Heatwave the way she tapped, but he would drop it for now seeing how apprehensive she looked.

It didn't take long for Jess to spot that head of fiery red hair and pale completion in the distance. She felt her stomach churn a little as she gripped the steering wheel a little hard. Heatwave noticed this lapse in character of hers as he saw a woman on the street stop and wave as she noticed Jess sitting in his cab.

"This was a bad idea…" Jess said as she slid down a little, giving a half wave and smiling awkwardly.

Heatwave was almost tempted to tighten the seat belt around her and lock his doors so no one could open them besides him. Just let the other woman talk through a cracked window to Jess. He knew it would be bad idea because again, just a transforming robot built by humans with no sentient behavior. So he watched as she left his cab reluctantly, clutching her purse to her side.

He watched as the red headed woman tackled Jess in a hug, and Jess looked like she was going to throw up. It was obviously unwanted contact, and it made his energon boil, no one has a right to touch someone who doesn't want to be touched. Even if it was just a simple hug or handshake, some bots and people just don't like contact.

He listened closely to the one sided conversation, as the other woman, Veronica, just kept spouting things about how happy she was while Jess stood there stiffly looking at anything but the woman in front of her. She gave small and simple answers, a sign she was uncomfortable. Jess was a talker, Heatwave knew that about her.

"Why don't we go inside and talk some more, yeah?" Veronica asked as she lead Jess into the building next to the bakery, not waiting for Jess to answer.

She looked back at Heatwave almost expectantly as she felt herself being pulled up the steps and into the small music store. She was almost shoved onto the couch as an excited Veronica plopped herself next to Jess. She hasn't changed a bit, it seems, still pushy and assertive as always.

Veronica continued to talk about nothing important, but stopped before she sighed and looked to her old friend sitting next to her. "I know you are still scared of me, and you have a right to be. What I did was wrong and I am sorry."

"You're sorry?" Jess said as she tried hard to not let tears run down her face. "What are you sorry for?"

"For hurting you, in more than one way. I was a dumb kid, and I really do feel bad." She said as she scooted closer to Jess.

"You left me in a burning gymnasium while screaming about how much of a, and I quote, 'a skank who won't hook her up with her hot cousin'." Jess finished in a monotone voice, starring at the floor beneath her feet.

"I-I know. I'm surprised you didn't tell anyone about that." She replied, also looking at the floor with great interest.

"Why would I? You would have gone to prison and it would have ruined your future. I'm not about tearing people down for a mistake, but you hurt me." She said as she stood up to turn her back on Veronica, physically and metaphorically.

"That is why I admire you, and hate you." Veronica spat as she stood with enough force to push the couch back. There were no other customers in the store, and the owner was nowhere to be found. It would be Jess' luck that happened.

"Always so perfect. Always so forgiving. Always better than everyone else!" Veronica went on as she threw her hands up in the air. "Never the bad guy! Always so perfect and poise! No problems at all!" Veronica said as she shoved Jess forward with a lot of force.

Jess did not retaliate, but she did not leave either. She knew this was a bad idea, as Veronica can be a little loose with her actions most of the time. Jess thought she might have an illness that makes her this way, but sh never had a chance to ask, and she certainly did not want to ask about it now.

"Look at me, I'm Jessica!" Veronica mimicked as she started throwing things on the ground and pushing book cases of cds and records on the ground. "I have no flaws and am a perfect human! Who doesn't share that perfection with her only friend!" The door was blocked now by mounds of wood splints and trash as Veronica continued on the rampage.

People walking by didn't even notice as they all had somewhere to be, but she saw Heatwave outside the window and wanted nothing more than to run to him and hide in his cab. She knew Veronica though, she would just follow and make it worse if Jess tried to move. She knew Veronica, and it is best to just let her rampage and be done with it.

"I hate you and your perfect face! And your perfect family!" She screamed as Jess heard her throw some liquid around? Where would she have gotten that. Jess turned to see a small canisters of gasoline in the woman's hands. Jess didn't have time to react as the building went up in flames quickly as Veronica kept screaming about Jess. Jess screamed and backed up into a wall as the building began to get engulfed quickly. She notice veronica was starting to smoke, and if Jess didn't pull her down she would catch flame.

Jess reacted on instinct and pulled Veronica down by the hood of her jacket on the floor, and she fell with a loud scream. She must have hit the back of her head hard enough to knock her out, because as soon as she hit he floor she stilled. Jess began to panic as she now had to not only deal with getting herself out, but getting Veronica the help she desperately needed.

Jess looked around and noticed there were no back exits, this building was just a one way in, and the door was blocked by burning debris of left over mess. Jess reached into her purse and found her phone, but her heart sank as she noticed it had died. She thought she plugged it in earlier but the charger must not have been plugged into the wall.

"H-Help!" Jess coughed as she inhaled a large amount of smoke. Smoke inhalation was a big cause of respiratory problems, and can even cause death quicker than being burned by the fire. She called out again, only to fall into a fit of coughing again. Heatwave was right outside, if she could just get his attention, maybe he had an emergency override protocol that let him act without an instructor?

"H-Heatwave!" She screamed as loud as she could muster as she pulled Veronica closer to her away from the burning wall of flames heading in their direction. She was afraid this was it, as she could feel herself slipping out of consciousness due to the lack of oxygen in the room.

She heard a loud crash and something cold hit her with great force, she looked up to see Heatwave smashed the front of the building open and began to spray the flames with his knuckles. Jess coughed loudly, not only to get his attention but to help clear her lungs and breath some fresh air the water began to provide to the dry atmosphere.

Heatwave saw her huddled against the wall and quickly grabbed her and Veronica and placed them on the sidewalk where Jess saw her Uncle there with the paramedics ready to treat their wounds. She felt herself being pulled up and placed in a sitting position as she felt someone taking her pulse and asking if she was ok.

She said she inhaled a lot of smoke and probably needed a tank of oxygen and a lot of water to help the symptoms for now. She emphasized that Veronica needed help more than she did, as she was burned and passed out on the sidewalk where Heatwave left them. The paramedics gave her a tank and took Veronica in the back of the ambulance and took her to the nearest hospital for treatment.

Jess began to cough more as she took big breaths of the oxygen given to her by the paramedics, and as soon as they let her Uncle Charlie was at her side, patting and rubbing her back trying to help her cough up the toxic fumes. Smoke inhalation was hard to treat, and it can take up to three days to clear, but other than that Jess was fine physically.

After the fire was put out, and Jess' coughing began to calm down, she sat in Chase's driver's seat with her Uncle trying to get information out of her. Unbeknownst to them there was a com link happening between Chase and Heatwave about the whole situation.

 _"One minute the place is fine, the next I hear Jess screaming and the whole place is lit up like the Summer Festivals of Iacon!"_ Heatwave exclaimed as he was putting out the remainder of the fire. It was a gas fire so he switched from water to foam a long time ago. He wanted to make sure the ashes wouldn't ignite again from a random spark or increase of heat.

 _"You were with her the whole time. Was there any suspicious activities taking place?"_ Chase asked as he watched The Chief hug Jess close to him as she held tightly to him as well. Chase wanted to know what happened, but Jess was yet to speak, probably because she was in pain.

 _"Not that I saw, just some weird girl who kept making Jess uncomfortable. Someone from her past, Jess seemed like she wanted nothing to do with her."_ Heatwave said as he stood by Chase in his bipedal mode as he watched The Chief help pull Jess up.

 _"This will require further investigation."_ Chase said as he watched him put Jess in his passenger's seat. She began to nod off as her Adrenalin began to die down. He instructed Heatwave to follow them back to the house as he got into the driver's seat and made his way back to the Firehouse.

He and Chase didn't stay for long as once The Chief made sure Jess was comfortable and someone was there to watch her in the house, he went back to the scene to see if he could figure out what happened. Kade came into the house in shock as he saw the state Jess was in, he felt angry that he wasn't there to help her. He promised his Dad he would watch her until she came too.

Heatwave paced the small space of the garage as he felt terrible for letting this happen. He should have just turned around and drove away like his gut told him too, to the pit with the secret. She could have died if he did not notice the fire in time, and that would have killed him worse than her finding out about their secret. He stopped pacing momentarily to stare at the mess they left in the garage earlier. It was then that he made a promise to himself.

He will protect her as long as she is on the island.

* * *

Did not really proof read this to be honest with you, I was just like done I did it and posted it. It started getting way to personal for me, and I noticed I am writing parallels to my life and couldn't take it.

I hope you like this chapter, and let me know what you think or if you have any idea for another one. Like I said, themes might be getting heavier as the story progresses. Rescue Bots is a cute kids show but life is hard and I am a bad person so.


	4. Honesty is Always Best

-Chapter 4- Honesty is always best

"Honesty is the best policy."- Benjamin Franklin

Jess was able to speak again after a few hours of napping on the couch, but she refused to talk about what happened in the small music store. Kade was more than frustrated with her decision to remain silent, as he continued to press the subject; she was as stubborn as he was however. She wanted to gain her own thoughts and feelings back before she spoke out loud her thoughts on the whole situation.

Truth be told, she was still shaken up by the events, and a few hours was not enough to grasp the entirety situation. Jess knows Veronica better than most people did, as they were the best of friends at some point in their lives. She was not dangerous, loud while having a few destructive tantrums, maybe, but not dangerous. Jess was sure Veronica was sick in some way; she was just never sure how to tell her she thought that about her. In a way she felt like this whole situation was her fault, if she said something maybe none of this would have happened.

If she could just change the past, tell Veronica what she thought, than maybe they would still be best friends. They could still be staying up late sending messages back and forth on their phones about what they were thinking. They could share their feelings and be open with each other like they used to. She could comfort her friend like she used to, tell her how pretty she thought she was and how amazing she was and how much she could accomplish if she actually tried to do it.

The past is the past, she knows that, but sometimes it doesn't hurt to wonder about what could have been… right? There was never anything wrong with imagining what could have been. It is only when you are stuck in that mind is when it is dangerous and unhealthy, at least, that is what she believes in. Sometimes she can't help but thinking what if, in a weird way it made her feel a little bit better to just sit and imagine what could have been.

Now comes the hard part however, how would she go about convincing people Veronica wasn't a bad person? Certainly she has hurt Jess in more than one way now, and she has indeed destroyed private property, but she wasn't bad. Jess believes there is no such thing as a bad person, someone who is sick and maybe a bit irrational, but not bad. People are inherently good, and she will always believe that, no matter how many people try to change her mind. To her, it was one of her best traits, the ability to believe when all hope appeared to be lost.

Kade eventually got upset enough with Jess to storm out in frustration while throwing his hands up in the air while giving a loud sigh of defeat. Jess ignored his reaction and stood to take yet another shower, changing into her fuzzy pink pajamas afterwards, and tying her hair up into a loose bun. It was another small comfort, to be able to dress and get clean after such a bad situation.

She had a feeling it is going to get worse in a few hours when Uncle Charlie gets home, he is going to call her mother, and then one of two things will happen. She will demand Jess return home immediately and never let her return to the Island ever again, or she will tell Jess to stay where she is and she will come get her and take her home herself. Either way, Jess' visit was destined to be cut short because of the small bad decision she made in a moment of weakness.

Again, one cannot change the past, but if Jess would have just ignored the message none of this would be happening. Heatwave would be clean and waxed, the garage would be clean, and everyone who was here would be sitting at the table eating dinner and joking about random things they could think about. It was a nice thought at least, but it did not really help her racing and anxious mind.

Once Jess left the bathroom she noticed the living room was still void of people, and she just let a loud sigh escape from her mouth. It feels like no matter what she does, at the end of the day she will be destined to be alone. It was always like this at home with her Mother. Jess would come home to an empty and quiet house, her Mother at work and her Father hanging out with his friends over at one of their houses. It made her feel a little lonely and a bit lost, all she really wanted at the moment was comfort.

Comfort and the ability to speak what is on her mind, to share what she is thinking to someone who won't judge her or give away her secrets when put under pressure. Veronica used to be that friend, the one she could share everything with, and after what happened to them, she still never found that friend she could share everything with. She fought the tears peeking out of the corners of her eyes as she began to pace a little bit around the living room to help her keep her mind off of the dark things that want to haunt her.

Once they look at the scene they will see that it was not an accident, and this fire was very much intentional. The gasoline canister was still probably left out and the streaks from where the flames burned hottest will be there and noticeable. Also, if the entire building did not go down in flames, there is always the security cameras that will no doubt show what really happened when they entered the small building. It was not looking good for her case, to try and convince everyone that Veronica was not some monster, but a sad and sick person who needed a lot of help.

Jess just shook her head and went into her purse that lay on the couch to grab her phone, and sighed as she grabbed the charger as well. Maybe this will finally be the lesson to teach her to always keep her phone charged and handy at all times. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do, but she took her phone and the cord into the garage, maybe she will find a source of comfort in the big room full of junk and holiday decoration. She felt like she has spent more time in this room than any other in the house since she has been here, it is kind of funny in a way. If she didn't go to medical school than her next big thing would have been mechanics and robotics, as she always enjoyed being around cars and trucks.

Maybe that is why she liked the bots so much, they were a mix of two things she enjoyed. Cars were always fun machines to have around and use, as she is convinced no two are the same and each have a unique personality. You could drive two Camaros in a row and they won't feel like the same machine, they will have their own quirks and personalities, kind of like people do. Robots are amazing as well, things built by humans to help with some of our hardstand easiest things. Some are meant to help solve impossible mathematical equations, while others are there to simply screw the lids on jars in factories. Both are very helpful to the advancement of the entire species that is humanity.

As she turned around from closing the door with a gentle click, she noticed an idle Heatwave standing next to an open garage door just staring off into space with a blank stare. Jess looked around and noticed that Kade still had yet to make an appearance since her shower. He might have been stubborn and bull beaded sometimes, but he rarely ignored Jess when he was mad at her. He was always there to push and prod until he made her tell him what he wanted to know, and sometimes it did not turn out so well. It might be one of the reasons why she can be very reserved sometimes.

She loved Kade, loved him like the brother she never had, but the way he was able to get under her skin and make her tell him things that she was uncomfortable with made her very upset. No one had the right to just make someone say something, it was a form of manipulation, and Jess was really getting tired of it. They were both adults and should respect each other's boundaries, but she had a feeling that was not something that was going to happen.

"Heatwave, where is Kade?" Jess asked as she walked up to stand next to his leg, to peek around the garage door to see it was still a nice and sunny day outside. Not surprising considering the season, but she felt like sometimes the weather should reflect her mood… Maybe that way people would actually be concerned with how she was feeling instead of ignoring it.

"Outside." He replied in his robotic voice, moving his optics down to look at her. He noticed she as washed and changed since she returned back to the house, which is good. He would hate for her to be the type of person to lay around and cry when something bad happens.

He assumed she would be active like that, not someone idle in an emergency situation. If there was anything he hated it was that, someone who was just standing about while something bad was going on around them. They would just let other people burn or drown even though they had the potential and possibility to help. He noticed a lot of human did that, just avoided horrible situations without lending a hand to help others. He was glad; at least, she was not like them.

Jess let out a cough as she used her arm that was covered in a sleeve to cover her mouth while she wheezed in an attempt to remove all the toxins she inhaled earlier today. Heatwave felt bad that he didn't intervene sooner, as maybe this whole thing could have been avoided if he listened to his gut feeling and denied her a ride into town. No time to think about it now though as he feels both warmth and a weight leaning on one of his legs and he was a little shocked to looked down and see Jess was leaning on him with her forehead resting against his frame; he had to resist the urge to reach down and touch her to assure her that everything will be ok. It looked like she was about to cry, as she moved to hug his leg with shaky arms.

"Heatwave… She isn't a bad person. Ok? S-she is just sick… its not something that needs to be made a big deal of." She said as she looked up to see his face looking down at her. Tears began to fall from her puffy red eyes, and he felt the tug at his spark to just simply hold her and tell her everything will be alright.

Heatwave couldn't himself as he placed his servo on the ground next to her. She looked at his servo and then back up to his face, and before he had a chance to correct himself she climbed into his hand without giving it another thought. On one hand he felt his spark soar at the idea that she trusted him enough to just simply crawl into his hand without even questioning it, but on the other hand it made that eating feeling crawl back up into his processor yet again.

He had to have been glitching; why else would he feel this need to comfort this grown woman who was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. He is never like this, and it is really starting to bother his processor about why it and his spark where not currently in sync. His processor said to put her back down and walk away, but his spark said hold her close and never let go. Never has this pull between the two been this strong, as most of the time he was able to control the urges and feeling his spark tried to force him to feel.

Sparks were weird in that way, as they always seemed to win the argument between logic and feeling for most Cybertronians. He was always able to overcome the feelings and signals his spark sent his way, as mostly it was what being a rescue bot was all about. Understanding, no matter how hard you try, you can't save everyone. It will pull at your spark, but in the end you must overcome the feelings and move on with your existence in order to help those that still needed it.

He lifted her up a little closer to his face, deciding to let his spark have the control over him for now, and kept her at a distance he thought they would both be comfortable with. She was able to reach out and touch his face if she felt the need to, and he was able to place her back down quickly if he absolutely needed too. Jess didn't know what she was doing either, as she let out a small laugh that sounded like an exquisite and exotic melody to Heatwave's audio receptors.

"I don't know of you understand me, but your attempts at comfort are making me feel better." She said as she placed herself more comfortably in his servo. She was a little bigger than her hand, but she didn't seem to mind the height or the distance from the safety of the ground. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve as she smiled and laughed more at the ironic situation.

She did say she wanted comfort and understanding didn't she? She laughed at where she was getting it from and how it all began to make sense to her. Heatwave could think and he could feel, as she knew she was not crazy when she was speaking with him before. Technology is not advanced enough to be able to make a working Artificial Intelligence that had a morality compass that included comforting a crying human, let alone the ability to know what comfort and understanding truly was.

Certainly there were dabbling in the ways of Artificial Intelligence, but even the smartest scientist she knew and read about have not made it very far in the programs they are writing. They have gotten pretty far, giving some robots and computers the ability to solve problems and feel good about their accomplishments, but that was about it.

There was no capacity to comfort or to understand their creators as a whole. They were still in the young phases, understanding themselves and being able to function as they should. Jess knew this robot was more than he was showing her, but at the moment she really did not have the capacity to think about it further, as her own problems began to bubble up in her mind again.

She reached her hand and placed it on his thumb as she looked down into her lap while looking sad again. "I don't want to make a big deal about this… I mean… Everyone is ok, so why does it matter how it happened." She began as she focused on anything but his face that was watching her with curious and understanding eyes.

"She is sick, Heatwave, even when we were kids. This isn't the first time this has happened between us." She said as she looked up to his face, starring into his deep blue optics. "She had the biggest crush on Kade, huge shocker I know." She snorted to herself as she remembered how much of a jerk young teenage Kade used to be, it was a surprise anyone wanted to hang out with him at all.

"She was mad that I wouldn't set them up, as I knew Kade did not like her that way. He really didn't like her at all really… I didn't want her to get hurt." Jess confessed as she recalled the incident that tore them apart all those years ago. She was trying to spare everyone's feelings, but really only made the situation worse than it was turning out to be.

"I've never told anyone this, because I knew she was sick and needed help… but she has done this before, the fire thing, I mean. It was afterschool and we were the last ones on campus just hanging out in the gym. She flipped and threw one of her tantrums… and I was a bad friend, I just- just let her do it." Jess paused as she removed her hand from his and wiped her eyes with her sleeve once again.

It was a painful memory to recall, remembering how she just sat there and let her friend destroy school property because she was upset at something trivial like dating her cousin. Veronica was throwing chairs, breaking trophy cases, and scratching the floors and walls like they weren't even there. Jess remembers being froze, scared, as it was one of her friend's worst freak outs yet. She did not know what to do, and it really just made the whole thing worse than what it could have been.

Her inability to react and solve the situation made it escalate into the worst fire in the school's history. It destroyed the gym, and the school had to cancel a lot of dances and basketball games that were planned for the season. The school never did build a new gym in their years there, but she assumed, hoped that they built a new one. She felt like it was her fault for letting it happen, and felt terrible for ruining the gym so badly that the rest of the school could not use it at all.

"She stormed out, and locked the doors with the keys she took from one of the teachers." Jess' voice began to crack more and sound even worse than earlier "before I knew it the whole building was caught fire… I had to climb the bleachers and slip out a small window to avoid injury."

It was a painful memory, of Jess just sitting in the middle of the gym crying with her hands on her face, just being utterly useless. She remembered looking up and seeing a wall of flames overtake one of the walls, and grabbing her bag while running to the double doors only to find them locked.

She ran again to the other doors to see they were locked too, there was no way out and she began to panic. She remembered seeing her life flashing in front of her, and thought of all the things she would never get a chance to do. If not for her looking around and noticing one of the upper windows were left open, she was certain her life would have ended there.

Jess began to shake as she tried to hold back her tears; she hated crying, especially in front of others. She knows that he was more than a robot, and it was starting to make her feel a little bit more self-conscious. Did he think she was pathetic for not knowing what to do? Did he think she was stupid for even letting a situation like that affect her for as long as it has? She wanted to so bad know what he thought, but she knew he would not tell her, as he seemed to be a bot of few words.

Maybe it was because the family was trying to keep theme a secret? They maybe did not want the world to know these big thinking and functioning robots were able to think and act on their own, that they had a moral compass and the capacity to feel emotions just as humans did. It would scare a lot of people, and make even more people want to find out what makes them tick.

Heatwave did not think these negative things about her, and he really wanted to tell her this. She went through something dramatic as a younger person, and he can really relate to her situation. When he was younger, the whole youth sector in Iacon went up in flames from an accidental explosion. He remembered being trapped and scared until a rescue bot came and pulled him away from the burning buildings around him.

In a way he thought their situations were similar, but the only difference is he had a savior, he had someone whom he could look up to after that. It is what made him want to aspire to be a rescuebot to begin with, to become someone who fights off flames and energon explosions that occurred all through their planet, and maybe even expand his horizon to saving people all around the galaxy.

In a way he has received his wish, to saving people all over the galaxy. It wasn't Cybertron's galaxy, but it was a galaxy none the less. He reached his other hand over to Jess as a gesture of good faith, as it was the only thing he could think to do to tell her that she was safe with him around. That he would watch her and never let anything bad happen to her so long as he was with her.

She would have never guess that this machine would be her salvation this day, a listener, a comfort in a place where she can't seem to find a decent amount of in her life. Call her selfish and irrational, but she will take all the comfort she can get as she grabbed his offered finger with a sad smile. It was like a silent communication, one she was grateful he offered. She understood, he was there to make her feel better and be her friend, her comfort.

She has made many friends since Veronica, but has still kept a reserved nature about her. There were certain things she would not share with the people around her, no matter how long they knew each other. It seems that maybe she can finally find peace and closure from this robot that can feel.

"The gym burned to the ground and she was never caught, and I never told anyone. Not even my Mom… I knew it wasn't her fault, and that maybe after this incident she would figure out she needed help." Jess continued as she looked back into his optics, her eyes a little red from her tears. "She isn't bad, just in pain…"

Heatwave said nothing, not that he would know what to say if he was able to say anything at all. This was a hard situation to deal with, and the fact she has been carrying around this baggage with her for so long could not have been good for her emotions. He knows what it's like to hold secrets that others should not know about in order to protect them or their feelings. Jess was strong for doing it for so long, and felt he felt honored she told him something that no one else knew about her. It made his spark soar with a certain type of happiness he couldn't seem to place at the moment, but he really hoped the feeling would last a little bit longer.

It turned out alright, this time, letting his spark take control. It gave him a better understanding of Jess, a better understanding of human based emotions. They were not so different from Cybertronians, and he guessed maybe he should stop holding back from sharing his thoughts with her. Secret be sent to the pit, if he can make Jess laugh and smile again, than it will be a good day in his book.

"Thanks for listening again, Heatwave." Jess said as she wiped her eyes yet again, her face still a little red and puffy from her earlier tears.

He was about to reply with a 'no problem' but was interrupted by a shouting Kade next to his leg. At first Heatwave couldn't hear him, but Kade continued demanded He put Jess back down on the ground so he can take her back inside and make sure she was still ok. He wanted to so bad to tell Kade to frag off, because she was just fine being in his servo, she was comfortable and sharing her feelings with him. He was more than capable of making sure she was alright, he was smarter than his partner would like to give him credit for. He knew enough about human anatomy and sickness to know if she was in danger, but he held his tongue and gently lowered her to the ground.

Once the two were inside the house after Kade more than pushed her that direction, Heatwave felt his frustration grow even more with having to pretend to be a robot. Maybe if she was told from the beginning none of this would have happened and he could have told her to not bother with this woman to begin with. Would she still like him if she knew he was autonomous? The thought crossed his processor once or twice, and it made his spark clench in his chest worse than before…

Of course she would, like him that is! From what Heatwave has seen of her she was very accepting and understanding of the things around her. Would she like his personality though? Heatwave knew he could be a bit brazen and stubborn and angry at times, but in the end everyone knows he means well and he honestly does try to do his best in any situation he is thrown into. She was Kade's best friend for Primus' sake, and if she liked Kade than she would like Heatwave.

He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with him personally, that maybe she would hate him somewhere along the line. That maybe if he shared some of the things from his past with her, she would despise him for some of the things he has had to do to survive. The fear of rejection is always apparent when meeting new people, and there is always a small fear you will say something to set them off. Heatwave knows Jess is a nice person and would most likely accept them, there is just that fear in the back of the processor preventing logic from entering.

The fear in his processor was starting to hurt his spark, and he reached to his chest to pound on it a little bit. He grumbled about how stupid it was being, and decided to try and tune out the signals it was sending to him once again. This is why he doesn't let it take control as often as he should, it only ends up causing him pain, and having spark pain was way worse than suffering physical pain.

It wasn't a few minutes later when Kade came back outside and began shouting at Heatwave for his negligence to Jess health, and for almost blowing their secret to her. He was also upset at the fact Heatwave thought it was ok to handle Jess that way after she went through something traumatic like that. If only Kade knew, as to Heatwave it felt like the perfect time to say something.

Jess wasn't some dainty Praxian crystal that needed someone to care for her all the time, as she gave off the vibe of independence and strength. He understands that sometimes even strong people need a shoulder to cry on as well, and he would gladly take on the challenge of being her comfort. Was it that weird thing about human males trying to keep their femmes at a certain distance from other males?

Come to think of it, Heatwave never understood humanity and their need to keep their femmes in a certain imaginary line they created to help boost their fragile masculinity and egos. On Cybertron, Femmes and Mechs are treated in the same, regard as equal opportunities in work places and social situation. If someone was big and bulky they would work construction, if they were agile and small they would be spies or athletes. No gender was better than the others, and he will never understand the need to keep the human femmes down and shunned.

Maybe Kade was not thinking about it that way, but Heatwave saw it that way a little bit. He noticed how hard he tries to keep both Dani and Jess out of danger for no reason, like as soon as he lets the leash go they will run into the street and get hit by a car. It irked him to think his partner thought less of his family because of their smaller size and gender.

"Calm down, I think Jess is going to be fine." He replied once Kade was done having his fit and would actually listen to what he would have to say.

"Oh, and how would you know?" Kade said as he threw his hands up again "I've known her my whole life. I think I know what she can and can't handle." He said with a matter of fact voice, giving Heatwave a sort of smug and angry look all at once.

Heatwave said nothing and let lose a low growl as he ignored whatever it was Kade said after that. He knew nothing of what Jess just told him, and Heatwave would have rubbed it in his face if he didn't want to protect her and her secrets. He decided to argue a different way instead, keeping to himself that Jess had been through this before, and that she was more than capable of bouncing back from a bad situation.

"She is trained to deal with emergency situations you know. She knew what to do when the building caught fire." Heatwave said as he crossed his arms looking down at his partner.

Heatwave described what he saw Jess do, lay flat on the ground and pull the other woman down with her. Had the door not been blocked she would have been able to get out of the building and given Veronica a little medical treatment from the ding to her head. Jess was not an idiot, and has been trained to not panic in serious physical situations.

Just because she freezes in social situations and does not know how to handle them all the time, doesn't mean she doesn't know how to deal with survival situations. She reacted just as was expected of her. Smoke and heat rises, and the best option is to get low and find an exit. Once he explained this out loud, Heatwave expected the worst, for Kade to argue with him.

Kade said nothing as he stormed back into the house while slamming the door shut as he entered the house. He was just glad his dad wasn't back yet, or he would have gotten scolded for treating the door and house with a lack of respect. He looked over on the couch to see Jess sending a message to someone on her phone; she was just sitting there looking like nothing had even happened. Like she was not just held up off the ground by a giant robots alien, in fact she looked better than she did before he stormed out of the house to get some air earlier. She looked more at ease and did not seem as upset as she was earlier.

Once Kade was inside and done examining Jess, he sat with a huff next to her on the couch as she started to brush her still slightly damp hair. She paid him no mind, as Kade sometimes got huffy for little to no reason. It wasn't hard to tell he wanted to say something, but he did not know where to start.

Jess knew that about him; that sometimes you need to give Kade a window of opportunity to talk about what he wants. Mostly it is when he has something big on his mind that is a little awkward for him to say out loud, something he doesn't know how to bring up himself without getting flustered or angry. It was easy enough to initiate a conversation like this, but being able to get him to say what was on his mind was a challenge. He was reserved, just like she was, and he never had someone like she had Veronica to talk to.

She always felt bad that Kade seemed to isolate himself from his peers, but then other times she noticed he seemed perfectly ok with his self-isolation. He was always the one to convince himself that he did not need anyone but himself to look after. It made him feel better to emotionally distance himself from everyone, especially after his mom passed away.

Jess was not a mind reader, but she had been friends with him for a very long time, and he is not a hard person to read. He tries to be big and tough on the outside, but Jess knows on the inside he is a big squishy marshmallow. Once placed under fire her will start to cook under the pressure and be forced to spit out what he needs to say.

In a way it made Jess a hypocrite she knows, as she hates when Kade forces information out of her when she doesn't want to talk about it. In the end, maybe it was good for both of them, to be forced to speak their emotions. She will never know, and she doesn't want to think about how bad of a person that makes her look, there was enough going on without adding more fuel to this disaster fire.

"Heatwave is a pretty wild bot. It's almost as if he seems to care-"

"Look, Jess. I don't want to say anything without everyone's say so." He said while slumping further into the couch, getting into a position that could no be any way comfortable.

He slid down so that half his body was hanging off the couch while he folded his arms and looked up at the ceiling. It reminded Jess of a child throwing a tantrum, displaying physical signs to show that he was upset and did not want to share why with anyone.

This made Jess wonder what he meant though. Maybe she should ask the question that has been floating around her mind for a while now. The curiosity has increased since a few moments ago where she swore Heatwave portrayed autonomous abilities. She did not tell him to lift her up or to even listen to the words she spouted without thinking. He had to be some kind of super Artificial Intelligence, and she will get to the bottom of the situation with or without the family's permission.

"They are more than just robots, aren't they?" She asked while placing the brush down on the coffee table.

She turned to look directly at him; she was always able to tell when he was lying. He can't lie to her, no matter how hard he tries to do it. She can always see past the mask and the walls he places around himself to try and avoid looking like the good guy that he really was.

"Who told you…?" Kade asked while turning his head a little from her, it almost seemed like he was ashamed for keeping this secret.

He hated lying to Jess, but this was a weird and sensitive subject to the whole family. How do you go up to your best friend and say 'hey it's been awhile, by the way our new cars are transforming robot aliens from a far away planet'? Besides it wasn't his whole secret to give away either, as he shared it with his whole family. They had to decide what to do together, as a team.

"No one, I kind of just knew. Robots with no feelings don't try to comfort a victim of circumstance." Jess said as she picked up the brush again "Why didn't you guys tell me?"

Kade just sighed and rubbed the back of his head. He wasn't good with mushy stuff like this, and he hated confrontation despite being the cause of it most of the time. He told Jess to just wait till Dad got home to explain it better than he could. He then proceeded to go upstairs and proclaimed that he needed a very long nap. Jess said nothing as he left, understanding why he might have felt guilty.

She wasn't mad, just really confused. Certainly they knew Jess better than that to just keep her in the dark like this… She wasn't the type to panic and scream over an earth shattering secret. She would like to think she had more sympathy and understanding than that. She never really gave them an indication she could keep this secret though, as she was just a reserved as Kade was at times.

Once Charlie get's home she will ask him about it. Where did they come from, and why are they here? She wants to know all about this new situation the family has found themselves in. Change is hard, and it will sometimes change a whole lot of things, but sometimes it was necessary for people to grow and move on from the past.

Meanwhile Heatwave decided to give the two their space and let them talk it out, and hoped maybe Kade would come clean about the whole situation. If Jess was going to stay here for much longer she is going to have to be in on this little family endeavor to work together and protect each other.

He found himself in the control room of the Sigma, and contemplated contacting Optimus about the situation. He would know how to handle what was going on, after all someone does not get the rank of Prime for no reason. They have to earn it, to be proven worthy of it, and Heatwave had no doubt Optimus was one of the best Primes. He has survived the war for a reason, and that means a lot to Heatwave.

He couldn't back down now as he already pressed the call button on the communication consol. He wasn't sure how to start his report, but did not really have time to think about it as Optimus came onto the screen with a small greeting.

"Heatwave, reporting in sir." He began as he stood a little straighter "a lot has happened in the past few days here and I felt you should be informed of them." As he saw Optimus nod his head and ask him to go on.

Heatwave told him about Jess, another member of the family that was an unannounced visitor who was causing quite a stir in their little group. He told Optimus about their little mundane talks and outings, which lead him to ask the awkward question about a potential glitch in his system.

"Have you run a diagnostics?" Optimus asked as he looked through the screen to the Rescuebot's leader.

"Affirmative, it came up negative, sir." Heatwave said as he stood unmoving in his spot.

Optimus looked at Heatwave for a moment and allowed the situation to sink in, as the Prime had a hunch as to what was going on. Heatwave was a logical bot, who loved his tram and loved to lead. He was someone who had a preference to being in control and knowing how to handle every situation he was in. He did not like the unknown, and it was obvious he did not know how to handle situations of the spark.

Optimus knew many bots that were the same, they were more processor and mech than they were anything else. They liked to pretend they did not have emotions and that they were stronger because of it, they liked to pretend that nothing affected them. In the end they only harm themselves because they can't admit to their processor that their spark needs to be listened to as well. They both should be in sync for a cybertronian to function normally and without glitch issues.

"Heatwave." Optimus began "I think I understand. You must start listening to your spark, understand what it wants."

"Sir?" Heatwave had no idea what that meant… was he being philosophical with him? Was this a prime thing? He wanted to ask for clarification but Optimus informed him that he had other things to attend to.

Sure Heatwave knew he had a tendency to ignore what his spark was telling him, because in the end he always had a solution that made both parts of him happy. Sometimes he hated the fact that Cybertronians were this way, so torn internally with themselves because their mind says one thing but their spark says another. He had no idea what to do with this new information and just simply stood at the console for a good long while until he heard some movement outside the small secluded room, no doubt it was the bots coming back from their respective patrols to discuss the current situation.

He heard his name being called and was thankful to be pulled from his current thought process. Sometimes he can feel his processor trying to fry itself with all the things he wants to think about. There are always distractions to keep him from going too far into dark places, and he is always thankful to Primus for those things.

"Heatwave! What happened?" Blades asked as he stood in the center of the room looking nervous "Once we got here Dani ran straight inside with a scared look on her face."

"Graham too, we were wondering if you knew anything?" Boulder said as he walked over to stand next to Blades. Chase remained quiet as he observed from the other side of the room, already knowing most of the situation at hand.

"It's… Complicated…" Heatwave said as he explained how Jess was just doing Kade's chore of washing him when she decided to meet up with an old friend she knew from here. Afterwards she went into a building and the place caught flame, when he acted to pull the girls out and put the flames out when Chase pulled up to the scene with the Chief.

The others listened to Heatwave with intensity, and he could see the looks of curiosity on their face plates. They wanted more details on the issue, but Heatwave will not divulge information that isn't his to give away. If Jess wants to keep some things secret then so be it, she shouldn't have to give out information about herself she doesn't want to.

"I am glad she is ok, at least." Boulder sighed as he listened to Heatwave's story "Graham was so worried, I can only imagine how everyone else is feeling."

"I know what you mean; Dani was in a huge panic on the way back here." Blades said as he placed his hand on his helm.

"Heatwave." Chase said as he approached the leader with his normal dead pan look "If you saved her, does that mean she knows about our secret?"

The rest of the bots were silent as they now looked to Heatwave for the answer, they forgot she was supposed to be kept in the dark for now about their identity. Technically Heatwave acted without being told to do so, and they knew humans were smart enough to put two and two together. At least, the competent humans were able to fit the pieces together.

"I don't think it's going to be an issue if Jess knows who and what we are." He said as He crossed his arms over his chest. He basically gave it away in the garage earlier that they could think and feel, and it actually felt like a huge relief that she will know who they are.

All the while Jess sat on the couch trying to convince her family that everything was ok, and that they were over the top for no reason. Kade stayed mostly silent on the couch next to her, while Dani paced back and forth in front of them. Graham sat on the other end of the couch looking deep in though, while the Chief just stood silently across the room with his arms crossed.

"Will you explain what exactly happened, Jess?" the Chief asked her as he just stared at her with his stoic expression. Jess felt a little small at that moment in time.

What can she say to ease everyone's worries without painting Veronica as an evil human who just wanted to harm her for no reason? Jess understood she was sick and needed help, but will the rest of her family… She could only hope as she let out a big sigh.

"Well, I was just hanging out, washing the fire truck when Veronica text me to hang out." She started as she pulled her legs up to her chest "I drove there in Heatwave because I did not have any other vehicle, and I figured you guys wouldn't mind."

"Once I got there it was a kind of awkward reunion, and so we walked into the music shop to talk and try and work out some of our issues." Jess let out a sigh and had to pause for a moment.

Should she tell them her secret from all those years ago? How would she even do that, how do you just say 'well this isn't the first time she has done this and I forgive her because she needs help'. It doesn't blow over well for some people to know about.

Sometimes people don't understand what it is like to know someone with mental health issues, as her father is an active sufferer of Schizophrenia. She understands that sometimes people are not always in control of themselves when they get into certain fits of depression or anger. People just don't have enough sympathy to care, or they just don't feel like they need to care.

"Now… I don't know how to say this but…" Jess sighed as she let her legs unfold and touch the carpet beneath her.

"That the girl is insane?" Kade said with a huff while he too crossed his arms "Always has been since we were kids"

Jess let her face drop as Kade uttered the word insane. It isn't her fault! Veronica was not thinking when she was acting! Certainly they had to understand that… "You already investigated the fire?" She asked a little apprehensively.

"I saw the tapes and recognized it was an act of arsine, Jess." The Chief said as he walked to kneel in front of his niece "If you can explain the situation to us than maybe I can understand what I saw better."

"I-"Jess had nowhere to run now, and she couldn't hold this secret in anymore "This isn't the first time this has happened…"

"What do you mean?" the Chief asked as he looked at her with awaiting and understanding eyes.

She explained about what happened in High School with the gym, about how she knew Veronica needs help and not punishment. How she truly believes that she was sorry for what she did and was not in control of herself during these bad situations. Once Jess was done she held her breath waiting for someone to say something, something to break the tension she could feel build up in the room.

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" the Chief asked as he took her chin in his hand and tilted her face upward so he can look at her face "I believe you Jess. She is sick and needs help."

Jess began to sob a little as she leapt up and hugged her uncle with a tight squeeze. He did understand, he actually understood what she was saying out loud. It was a huge relief from her chest to just let this all out after all of these years of keeping it pent up and trying to forget it.

Dani and Graham joined the hug and Jess began to laugh at how loving her family was, how could she ever doubt them this way? Of course they would understand, they were her family… She was grateful to have such a good one. Not a lot of people would understand like they would.

"Speaking of secrets…" the Chief said as he released a laughing Jess from the vice grip she created for him "about the bots-"

"They are alive. And they can think and feel, just life us." Jess said as she wiped her face from her stray tears from earlier "the real question is, how?"

The family looked as stunned as they could be, with their mouths a gape. Certainly they did not think her that incompetent? They had her fooled up until Heatwave attempted to comfort her as she was distressed in the garage earlier. No machine is capable of something like that, no matter what someone tried to tell her.

It was then that they all explained that the Bots were really from outer space, and were sent here on a mission from their leader somewhere else on the earth, to protect and serve the island of Griffon Rock and its inhabitants. Jess almost didn't believe it at first, and would have laughed had it not been for all she has experienced in the past few days. Only on Griffon Rock would something like this happen, and she knew she was going to love every minute of being home once again.

* * *

 **Same as last chapter, I am very tired and did not want to proof read this whole thing. if you find an inconsistencies please let me know, as it is currently 2 in the morning and I have lost control over my emotionally wrecked life.**

 **I also just wanted to push this out so I can start on my Prim story and my Rid2k15 story. I also wanted to re write the intro to this chapter as well, as I feel it is so weak and short and gross.**

 **Anyway, reviews are always welcome, and send me a message anytime if you feel like chating.**


	5. Learning and Growing

-Chapter 5- Learning and Growing-

"In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson."- Tom Bodett

"So, you aren't a doctor yet?" Blades asked as he looked down at their family's newest addition.

"Not yet, there is still quite a few more classes and training for me to do." She explained as she looked up from where she was seated outside the fire house.

She and the family decided to spend the day outside, enjoying the last of the warm weather before Griffin Rock became overcome with snow and ice. The air around them was a nice cool, while the sun shone down just enough to keep everything even and comfortable.

"Right now, all I need is a hands-on training course, an internship, and then I will get my certification. Once that is over I can go back to school to train to be a general practitioner." Jess explained as she in turn looked up to the Cybertronian whom was very curious about her and her arrival.

"Sort of like Graham and his Engineering stuff?" Blades asked as he looked behind him on the basketball court to watch the rest of the family play around with their various activities.

The Chief, along with Dani and Kade, were tinkering with the old vehicles on the property to make sure they were all in working and functioning order. Graham and Cody were tinkering with something that was a part of Graham's mid-term project coming up, and the bots for the most part just stood by and made commentary at what the humans were up too.

"So, why aren't you in school than?" Blades asked her genuinely, but it came out a little snarky. Jess didn't mind, as she figured it was just how he asked for clarification on a given subject. She used to work with someone like that, so she knows he means no harm with the tone of his voice.

Some people just have a naturally higher pitched voice that always sounds like they are complaining or whining. Mostly, it isn't the individual's fault their voice sounds like that, so she tries to give everyone a chance to say what they wanted to say without giving any kind of judgmental attitude or disposition.

"Well, it's my break time. I have a few weeks off for the upcoming holiday season." Jess said as she stood to stretch from the chair she has been sitting in for so long. She had her bag sitting next to her on the grass, long discarded after her game console died. She was never good with keeping batteries charged on any kind of electrical device, she was a little absent minded when it came to things like that.

"Oh!" Blades said happily as he went back to watching the Burns family continue working on their various projects.

They stayed in silence for a while as Jess stretched her limbs and returned to her chair, though instead of playing her game she went to check her messages on her phone. Nothing exciting was happening without her, which was good, she hates missing out on potentially exciting situations… Exciting situations that aren't life threatening and no one could get physically hurt.

Celina reported nothing new, beside the cute pizza guy she scored a date with when he came by to drop off her dinner at the house. Her professors seemed to be wishing her nothing more than a happy break and to relax and enjoy it, and her Mother had not sent her a message in a few days, oddly enough for her. It felt like ever since she moved out, her Mother had nothing better to do than send the young woman messages.

It is either she has finally found her missing inspiration to continue on her latest novel, or her Father is keeping the chatty woman at bay, convincing her Jess was safe and sound with her Brother on the small island. She missed them a lot, as she never really got to visit because everyone was always so busy. In fact, this is the first break from school Jess has had where they haven't all planned a trip together, as the norm was they would al take time off from work to go on a crazy expedition somewhere.

Last year, during Christmas, she and her parents went to visit some of her family over in Japan, which was one of the best trips she ever experienced. Her family over there was so warm and inviting, and they were glad to teach her their cultural ways so she could have a better understanding of how to navigate the island without looking like a fool tourist.

Her Mother was proud and joyous that the family accepted Jess so well, even though they have a little difficulty accepting her. Jess' Mother was convinced that it was because she was Caucasian and American that his family did not approve of her, and she was possibly correct. There was never any open hostility in the family at all, but there was always subtle body language that explained exactly what they couldn't convey into words.

Her Mother had a hard time learning Japanese, and just never seemed to pick it up, but Jess and her Father could hold full conversations in his native tongue because he made her practice when she was little. She grew up pretty disciplined, almost like a Japanese student, with extra classes to excel and having productive hobbies that could help her find success as she grew older.

She would never describe her childhood as terrible, sure it had its ups and downs with some money issues and with her Father's citizenship test, but that was all behind her now. She never doubted that her parents loved both her and each other, and it was a blessing to always grow up seeing what a healthy relationship looked like. She has had her bad ones in the past, but she knew when things would not be able to work themselves out. She will always be grateful for who they are and what they did for her.

"Hey, Blades?" Jess asked as she looked back at the bots again "Is Heatwave ok?" They turned to see the bot staring intently at Jess, and he had been doing so for the past few hours, and it was worrying her if she was being totally honest with herself.

After that night with the fire, the bots have been so open and kind to her, as if they have known her for a long time. They answered all her initial questions with sincerity and amusement, as she asked more in depth questions than anyone else they ever ran into, except maybe for Graham.

She asked where they were from, how long they had been in space, if space travel was kind of like air travel, if they experienced culture shock in the same way humans do. It would have lasted forever if the Chief hadn't cut it short to usher her back into the house to give the bots and her a break from their ordeal.

Heatwave… He hasn't said much since she started to converse with them. It has mostly been conversation with Blades and Chase, with mild commentary from Boulder. She tried to think nothing of it, but it was a little strange to her given his previous behavior. He was the only bot that she really interacted with, and talked to, before she found out they were sentient.

Maybe it was easier for him to connect to someone who had no expectations for him besides to behave like a pre-programed machine, or maybe he was feeling regret for treating her too kindly, maybe he was not expecting her to stay long enough to find out about their secret and that he wanted her gone. She tried to keep those negative thoughts at bay, but in the end they always seemed to worm their way into her mind.

"Heatwave?" Blades asked as he seemed to notice the pair starring at him, which made him turn away quickly and pretend he was not acting strangely at all.

Heatwave was having a few of his own issues begin to arise in his processor, causing not so very kind thoughts to enter into his conscious thinking mind. He absolutely hated over thinking about what other people and bots opinions might be, but sometimes a bot can't help but do just that.

Ever since she found out about them, he has wanted nothing more than to get to know her a little bit better and maybe even become a closer friend and potential guardian to her, but his pit forsaken processor just wasn't having any of it. His spark seemed to argue with the negative notions his processor was subjecting him too, but the protests was so quiet it might as well be non-existent.

He thought that maybe she was judging him, mad at him for not acting sooner to help or even prevent the fire she found herself caught up in. Maybe she would hate him if she felt she couldn't openly talk to him, since he could form his own opinions and thoughts on situations. In reality, he admitted he was a lot like Kade in thought process and opinions, and since she and Kade were very close that maybe they could be close to.

He wanted to take that leap, to be able to talk to her openly like Blades seems to be able to, it's just his damn insecurities getting in the way of his social skills again, just like on Cybertron during his training as a rescue responder.

Blades looked back over at Jess and shrugged his shoulders, a signal that he had no idea what Heatwave was thinking about or why he was behaving rather oddly. She just decided to shrug it off for now, as it was getting rather late on this lazy day, and she wanted to get dinner started before it got too late. She gave the bots a good bye as she grabbed her bag and made her way into the fire house.

Jess and Blades weren't the only ones to notice the odd behavior portrayed by Heatwave, as Kade began to grow increasingly frustrated with his partner. Before hand, he couldn't get Jess to leave the bot alone, calling him the coolest piece of technology she had ever seen and how much she enjoyed his company whenever she took him out driving somewhere.

Kade could also tell that he was hiding something, and he was a guy who wasn't very open with the kind of deep emotions he feels. He was more like the kind of guy to bury them and deal with them as a whole in a private setting where no one could hear him rant or see him do something embarrassing. It was an unhealthy tactic, but it was his way of dealing with things.

Heatwave did not seem to have a good system for dealing with his emotions, as he just appeared to let them consume his entire mind so that he can't focus on anything but what he is feeling. It is dangerous to do during a rescue mission, as everyone on the team needed to be at the top of their game if they wanted to be successful. It made Kade wonder about the bots ability to lead his team correctly if he is going to let his cousin intimidate him into silence and frustration.

The family remained outside until the sun began to dip down below the horizon, and decided to pack it in to get ready to rest for the night and wake up early to begin their morning routines. No one was scheduled for Night Duty due to the slowness of this time of week. It gave the team a break and a chance to catch up on missed sleep.

Jess found that the longer she stayed at the Burns home, the more restless she began to grow. She always had trouble growing accustom to a new sleep pattern and area, but this was starting to really bother her. Even after everyone was tucked away in their rooms, and everything was dark and quiet, she found it hard to relax and let go of her thoughts.

She sighed as she sat up on the couch looking at the door to the garage, and then looked to her game console charging in the corner next to her phone. Both devices were dead when she plugged them in not an hour ago, so they were far from ready to be used at their maximum intended efficiency. It looked like it was going to be another restless night starring at a blank wall with racing thoughts that had no coherent lines to them, just a jumble of random information that decided to pop up and make her question things even more.

She stood up and pulled her university jacket over her head to cover up her white tank top, and put on a pair of socks to slip her tennis shoes on and travers outside to sit in the chair that was deemed hers. She was a little disappointed when she walked through the garage and Heatwave was nowhere to be seen, as he must have been in the bunker below with his rescue team. She wondered if they needed to sleep, she assumed they did, as most things, organic or not, needed some idle time to recharge and become more capable at doing their intended purpose.

As she found her way outside, she sat down in her chair and shivered a little, and regretted not wearing sweat pants to bed rather than a pair of small boy shorts. She forgot that when the sun goes down in Autumn, so does the natural heat in the air. She got used to the brisk cold rather quickly and decided to look up at the stars that shined brightly against the never ending void of space.

One cannot really see the stars where she lived in California, as it was a city that never seemed to go to sleep; someone was always awake and working. It amazed her how beautiful the sky looked without so much light dancing across to cover the natural beauty that existed there already. She wondered where this Cybertron was located, and how far away it really was from Earth.

When that thought happened, she felt herself grow a little sad for the Rescue bots, and even the team she heard about on the other side of the continent. They are so far away from their real home, a home that could no longer sustain them or keep them alive. They are forever refugees to the harsh elements that are in space, and are forced to survive on a lack of supplies.

If it was her choice, she would welcome all these bots from Cybertron to come and stay here with the humans, though there are a few factors stopping that from happening. She heard briefly that not all Cybertronians are friendly, that some are actually very bad bots whom want nothing more than to rule the galaxy and destroy any species that isn't them. Humans are the same way, sometimes, they are afraid of change and incapable of being friendly to someone who is a different ethnicity or sexuality, let alone species from another planet somewhere for away from their comprehension.

She was cut off from her negative thoughts of humans, as she heard heavy footsteps heading towards her location. At first she jumped, expecting the worst, but she soon recognized it as the walking of one of the rescue bots, so she let herself relax again and look up until they turned the corner so she may see who found their way over to her.

She wasn't all that surprised actually, as it was Heatwave that turned the corner and froze like a deer caught in a spotlight. She remembered him always being there whenever she was up, and maybe considered the fact he was like her in that way, restless and unable to relax when the mind begins its barrage of thoughts and ideas. It made them an opposite of Kade, someone who could sleep through anything and everything, which was something she was always envious of.

Jess said nothing as Heatwave came completely around the corner to stare down at her, as she just smiled up at him and huddled to herself a little bit more. The cold was starting to affect her, and her jacket was doing nothing to remedy the situation. She did not want to leave now though, as some invisible force finally put them together in order to get them a chance to speak in private.

It can be a little bit difficult to find a time to have private conversation in the Burns family, as they are a rather large and honest people who share everything they feel needs to be shared. Even with their high demand jobs, the family always seems to find a way to keep each other in their circles. Besides bedrooms, there was no real place inside the fire house to be completely alone. Especially now, with the bots in the bunker, almost nowhere was empty now.

"Thank you, by the way." Jess said as she returned her attention to the bot after a few minutes. She waited to see if he would leave on his own after he spotted her sitting in the lawn chair, but he did not, and simple starred up at the sky the same way she was before.

He was trying to think of something to say, something to break the proverbial ice, as the humans would say, but nothing was coming to his mind. He was too busy thinking about how much he actually missed Cybertron, and how far away he actually was from his home world.

When he was a Sparkling, he had always wanted to see the galaxy, to see what kind of adventures and troubles he could get into beyond the walls and barricades of his home world. It was one of the reasons he became a rescue bot, to not only explore, but to help save the lives of innocent Cybertronians whom found themselves the victims of bad circumstances. It was his passion, and he performed it very well, which is why he passed the academy with flying colors. It was why he was a leader.

He has done what he has set out to do, he has saved the lives of many innocent people and bots alike, he has explored the galaxy around Cybertron and has been on plenty of other alien worlds, and yet he can't seem to find the courage confront this human femme that he will admit he finds pretty captivating. He won't admit it out loud just yet and probably will never admit out loud, but it was the one thing his spark and processor can seem to agree on.

"Thank you?" Was all the was able to seemingly squeak out as he noticed how nice she looked sitting there in the light of Earth's moon. Heatwave was never one to be considered poetic, but in his optics, she managed to make the stars in space look so dull compared to the glow she seemingly emitted without knowing it.

"For listening to me all those times and comforting me when I needed it the most." She said as she smiled brighter, and Heatwave swore he felt his spark fizzle out in his chassie "You are a good soul, Heatwave."

He began to form words in his processor, but his mouth-plating refused to move and form the words he wanted to say, which was mostly it was not a problem for her to dump some of her issues onto his shoulders. He was Cybertronian, and had rather large shoulders. His processor was just made of mush, and just simply coughed and nodded his head in an attempt to say it wasn't a problem.

Jess accepted it, as she let her smile falter to allow her to relax a little in the bots presence, as she returned to looking up into the sky at the never ending light show that was space. It was way bigger than the humans would even know, bigger than any Cybertronian even knew. He wanted to, at that moment to ask what was going on in her mind, as it looked like she was having just as much trouble recharging as he was.

"It's crazy, when you think about it." Jess began, as if she could read Heatwave's mind "That there really is other life beyond our small oasis of a planet. We, as humans, have always wondered. It is just a lack of technology to check."

"All of you, all of you question everything we thought we knew about life, we thought that it was all organic, evolving-"

"Actually, we are more complicated than machines." Heatwave said, cutting off her train of thought in order to correct her information "We are Bio-mechanisms, you cut us and we still feel pain and bleed, we are just covered in mechanical parts to help enhance the ones we already have."

"So, you are born or created?" Jess asked while turning slightly in her chair to look up at Heatwave fully.

"Both, or, created?" Heatwave said, trying to ignore how cute Jess looked when she starred up at him with curiosity "It's kind of complicated."

"I've got nothing but time." Jess said as she smiled while trying to show him that she was very interested in this subject matter.

Heatwave wasn't a medic, or a biologist, but he knew enough about his species to know how they formed and created. How different it was from how humans and babies were created on this planet. A lot of species on this planet were mammals, giving organic birth and caring for the offspring that was produced until it is ready to lead its own existence. There was a similarity in Cybertronians, but there was more to it than just the acts of procreation and the care after.

He explained that Cybertronians, in a sense, were both organic and machines. Both natural biological parts and technological parts could be located within him and the other bots if you decided to take a look. Things like T-Cogs, which allow them the transformation sequences, are biological and cannot be produced like machinery parts. However, things like limbs and optics were replicable, should the receiving end of the new appendage still continues to function after the damage was taken.

He also mentioned that it takes more than just the act of interfacing to create a new sparkling life, as since most Cybertronians have a very long life span, it would be counterproductive to have accidental births and procreation. All parties participating in the creation of a new sparkling must consent to the creation of a new life, and a carrier must be chosen to house the sparkling until it is ready to be placed into the youth housing sectors to be taken care of by the bots dedicated to the child rearing caste.

Most designated carriers were designated into the caste of child rearing, but there have been known to be a few exceptions here or there. A sparkling if formed not during interface like it would be in humans, but during Spark Merging between very good friends or mates. The designated carriers spark holds onto the new life that has been placed in its care, being kept alive by the warmth and energy from the existing spark.

From there, after a designated time in which the spark is housed with its carrier, it and said carrier are placed into the care of the protoform specialists in the medical caste, which very carefully removes a ready spark to place it inside its own chamber. The chamber is then placed into a blank and awaiting protoform, which holds all the needed organic and mechanical parts to survive, and in a few cycles begins to take life as a brand new Cybertronian Sparkling.

All sparklings start out small, and with no protective outer plating, but once they grow under the watchful optics of the child rearing caste, they are fitted with armors and protectors based on a mostly pre-determined rank that is dictated by their laws and caste system.

"That is a bit complicated for me" Jess began "But I still wish to know where these Protoforms come from?"

"That is actually easier to explain." Heatwave said as he noticed she was shivering a little from the colder temperature of the outside. He offered her a servo, to which she gladly accepted as her new seat, as he pulled her closer to begin explaining where protoforms come from.

Protoforms come from the Well of the All-Spark, their planets entire core that not only creates protoforms which allows repopulation, but produces un-refined energon for the masses to survive upon in an otherwise uninhabitable and harsh planet. It was one of the reasons they had so much outer protection, their planet was far more dangerous than Earth. It was all thanks to Primus, their creator and their sustainer in the middle of deep and deadly space.

It brought up more curiosity on Jess' part about why Cybertron was more dangerous than Earth, and Heatwave was more than happy to satiate her curiosity any way he could, with what knowledge he had about his home world that is. He described how no water was on Cybertron, the only liquid was a powerful type of acid which did not exist on Earth, and seas of Mercury.

There were no plants on the planet, as Cybertron lacked an atmosphere like Earth had, so there was no oxygen in the air for human's to breathe, as Cybertronians lacked the need to do such a thing. The lack of an atmosphere caused for a lot of weather anomalies to occur as well, such as fire storms being a big issue over there, as well as high temperatures and uncharitable territories.

They both seemed to forget all about the previous awkwardness of the situation, as they got into a very interesting conversation about Cybertron. Jess wanted to know everything, and Heatwave would give her everything if he could, he was just a rescue bot and did not have a huge amount of knowledge, but it was enough to give them both satisfactions in the conversation.

It made him feel a little better to talk about his home world, made him forget about how homesick he really was for a little while, describing the vast differences between the two worlds. Explaining why he preferred some things on Earth and some on Cybertron. He loved all of the history Earth has with war and conflict, and still being able to bounce back and thrive, unlike Cybertron...

They both never really noticed how close they were until Heatwave noticed Jess nodding off in his hand, trying her hardest to stay awake and hear more about where he had come from. He couldn't stop the smile on his face-plate forming at how tired she really was, it reminded him of how much maintenance humans actually needed in order to survive.

Maybe next time he can get her to talk to him more about how Humans and the Earth function. The other Burns' family residence always seemed to give very short and simple answers to their questions, and he feels that maybe he could learn a lot from Jess and her eagerness to explain how everything around them worked. For now, though, he took her back into the fire house and ushered her back into the house as she smiled at him and waved good bye as she shut the door behind her quietly.

Heatwave stood there and watched the door for a good solid five minutes, with a big grin on his face-plate as he remembered how charming Jess looked falling asleep on him and how charming it was when she took such a big interest in Cybertron. It gave him hope that put to rest a bad notion in his processor that humans were not interested in being friendly, and just wanted to use them for technology and the betterment of themselves.

His spark was being very loud at this moment, doing flips in its chamber as it told him he did a good job in comforting her and being there when she needed him to be most. It made him proud that his spark finally seemed to be speaking out against the darkness that was his processor, which was trying to tell him he was a glitched fool for thinking a human to be anything but something to protect.

His processor was screaming at him that he was experiencing some kind of failure in his slight, major, attraction to a human femme. It was a waste of time, and would only lead to terrible and devastating spark-ache, but his spark protested and said he was doing what needed to be done and that nothing was wrong with him; that he was valid in his emotions. Seeing her smiling face, it certainly made him feel very valid at the very least, which was good enough for him at the moment.

He would have stood there for longer if he wasn't snapped from his internal struggle by the sound of the bunker platform rising from its below floor position. Blades was up and getting ready for his morning patrol with his partner Dani, he saw Heatwave standing by the door the Burn's home and tilted his head slightly, out of both curiosity and concern.

"Heatwave?" Blades asked in concern as he noticed his leader acting a little bit sluggish, which was a very bad thing for the team as a whole, a tired leader can cripple the entire team and its judgements.

"Blades." Heatwave replied easily, as he stood and walked over to the platform to go into the bunker. He was finally beginning to feel tired and ready to go into recharge until he was needed the next day for patrol.

Blades moved off of the platform and watched as Heatwave lowered himself down and out of sight while he felt himself worry more and more for their leader. This was strange behavior for Heatwave, and Blades was having so many thoughts as to why he might be acting this way, all of which were less than innocent things.

Was he going to leave the rescue bots to become a part of Optimus' team somewhere? Was his strange behavior linked to Loop-Lock or a virus? Has Heatwave simply grown tired of him and the other bots, and was plotting a way to leave without anyone noticing? There were so many possibilities it made Blades want to expel the energon he had just consumed.

He would have asked, but Heatwave was rather reserved and did not share his feelings that weren't related to a mission. He preferred to keep thoughts about others private, thoughts about how much he either liked or disliked a person or bot, unless he was making a joke about something. Blades really did not feel like getting yelled at or lectured about minding his own business, and decided later he was going to get Chase and Boulders opinion on their leader's strange behavior.

Until then, however, he decided to just drop it and prepare for a cranky Dani and a very long morning of flying above the island and patrolling for any early morning dangers that might present itself. It was what he was trained to do, what they were all trained to do, focus on the mission and keeping each other safe and as out of harm's way as possible.

Once Dani was gone, the house was quiet yet again, up until it was time for Cody and The Chief to get up and get ready for the day. The Chief tried hard to stay quiet and allow Jess as much rest as possible, because he knows how much of a night owl his niece can be, his sister was the same way when she as that young. It was hard to keep a young ten year old quiet for very long, however, as he came barreling down the stairs all dressed and ready to go to school.

Cody accidentally woke her up, but Jess really did not mind, as it was just as much his home as it was hers. It was her choice to sleep in the living room. The living room was the universal room in the house, a shared space, and she had no right to control it just because she was sleeping there. She got up and got dressed and ready for the day herself, and decided to maybe get more groceries, as the family seems to burn through food faster than they can produce it… mainly Kade.

Once she was dressed and sitting at the table eating breakfast, Cody and The Chief were off to their daily duties. Cody was taken to school until this afternoon, and The Chief would patrol the island until it was about ready for dinner time. Kade wasn't due to leave for a little while longer, so he was still asleep in his room upstairs. Graham did not have anything planned for the day, so he too was most likely sleeping in until he was caught up on all he has missed through the week.

Once Jess finished her slice of toast with a little bit of peach jam, she decided it was a good time to check her phone for any kind of missed messages she might have had while she was asleep or outside with Heatwave. It has happened before, Celina will text her at any time of day to update Jess on what was going on in her life, even though they saw each other every day and lived in the same apartment.

Celina was a good friend, and Jess was always happy to talk to the upbeat and excitable woman. They always got along great, and she was happy to have found a reliable and trustworthy roommate on her first try. The only complaint she had about Celina was the amount of relationships the woman seemed to breeze through, as almost every week it seemed she had a new person hanging from her arm that she wanted to show off to anyone who would listen.

Jess wouldn't judge her though, as she knows how hard it could be to find someone who you could trust and get along with all the time. If anything, she was a little envious of the woman, Jess couldn't meet that many people even if she tried! That took a lot of effort Jess would rather place into something else than socializing too much. In a way it made her a little different from the people around her, but in the end they were all the same, no matter what oddity a person possessed.

Jess decided to ask if maybe Heatwave would be interested in accompanying her to the store again for a quick trip for food. She did not have to do it today, but she had nothing else going on at the particular moment, and she could always ask Boulder if Heatwave was too busy. It would be a funny sight to see for certain, a bulldozer parked in the grocery parking lot waiting for its driver to be done shopping.

It was something that seemed too domestic for big machines like the rescue bots, but they did not have any other appropriate vehicles to drive around the island in. Her family only really ever left the house to do their jobs and occasionally attend a town event, and in a way it was the Burns family oddity.

Some people preferred to stay in and read a book, while some preferred to go out and socialize with their friends. Her entire family, as well known as they were on the island, really did not create relationships outside of the family. Jess only had a few friends from university, Kade had a few buddies he still talked with from school, Dani had one really good friend that lived on the mainland, Graham is the less social one with just a few good acquaintances, and Cody had Frankie.

It was the legendary Burns' family curse, as Jess liked to call it, the inability to make friends with someone who isn't related by blood or marriage. A curse that drove the family to want to help people more than get to know them, and Jess had no idea why. She wanted to break the trend, but she found herself more attached to the indoors and her own business than to the socialization to the people around her. All she cared about was that everyone was ok and able to function normally without any issues that might cause them pain.

She found herself in the garage and pressed the button to make the platform lower into the bunker level of the firehose. She was not too fond of elevators, or the poles that would have allowed for faster access to the lower levels, so this was the easier option for her.

Once the platform was on the ground, Boulder was the first to wish her a good morning from atop his canvas that he was working on. Jess greeted him in turn with a warm smile and polite conversation. He was working on a small painting of Cybertron, to try and alleviate his home sickness. It was working for him, as he explained he has never felt more comfortable on this planet than he is with his paintings and favorite plant, Leafy.

It was the cutest thing Jess had ever seen, as Boulder was just a big robot with a heart of gold, and an equally pure personality to boot. If he was introduced to the human race first, Jess had no doubt that everyone would love him. It was impossible to have any ill thoughts about the sweet Cybertronian.

"Have you seen Heatwave this morning? I was going to see if he would like to run some errands before he and Kade have to leave." Jess asked as Boulder paused his painting to look down at her standing next to him.

"I'm not sure, I haven't seen him. I think he was up really late last night." Boulder explained as he placed his robots sized pallet down to give Jess his full attention.

"I was up late with him; we talked a lot about Cybertron. I had a hunch that you guys needed sleep, but I am not sure about how much." Jess explained as she stuck her hands in the pocket of her university jacket.

She was in a simple outfit today, consisting of a light pastel pink V-neck shirt, with her university jacket on top in case it gets as chilly as it was last nights. She wore a simple pair of dark blue skinny jeans that had a few jeweled patterns on the back pockets. She also wore her nice black heeled boots that went a little past her ankles to cover her miss-matched socks. It was a cute and practical look that worked for her, and it was also rather comfortable.

"It is not the same kind of sleep you humans require" Boulder began to explain "we are rather large machines that require some recharge before we can work at maximum functionality."

"Sort of like a cell phone?" Jess asked as she tilted her head a little trying to understand what Boulder was explaining to her.

"Kind of, most bots just shut off all physical functions and allow their bodies to rest and recuperate while others just simply close their eyes and let their systems cool down." Boulder tried to explain again "I guess it is the same way as a cell phone, we aren't doing anything but our processors are still functioning and operating."

"Fascinating, are there any major consequences for not recharging like there is with humans and sleep deprivation?" Jess asked, finally understanding his words due to his cell phone comparison.

"Not as seriously as you humans, it won't cause death, but it causes productivity levels to fall and personality extremes to appear and cloud the processor from sound judgment." Boulder clarified while watching Jess' face for any kind of reaction of understanding.

"Well, if you put it that way it kind of is the same. A tired human is less productive than a well-rested one, and even sometimes when the person goes without sleep for long periods they being to hallucinate and it causes a lapse in judgment." Jess explained as she tried to find parallels between their species. She was convinced that no matter how different their culture is, they are still similar down to their basic functions and needs.

Humans needed sleep, Cybertronians needed recharge. Humans needed food to nourish and energize their bodies; Cybertronians needed energon to provide their systems with enough energy to function up until their next refueling. Humans needed companionship and family to thrive and have motivation; Cybertronians appeared to and together in groups in order to get tasks done with efficiency and swiftness.

"Interesting, I never really tried to make that parallel before." Boulder explained as he was starting to get into this conversation quickly.

"I think it helps us realize how similar we are, and allows us all to work together better knowing we really aren't all that different." Jess began to explain "I believe that as long as something is alive, it deserves my respect and understanding."

Boulder was beaming at what Jess had said, and he could see why she got along with everyone as well as she has. She is willing to give her respect without expecting others to do it in return, she wanted to be nice and kind to try and make another's day better without trying to gratify herself. It was good she was here, as he can see now why Heatwave has taken a liking to her so very quickly.

Boulder knew this was a good opportunity for Heatwave to really understand humans and how they live, as he always felt Kade wasn't a very good example to how the average human behaved. Maybe this would be the deciding factor into motivating their leader to stay on the island and to stop trying to pursue a position on Optimus Prime's team.

Once Heatwave emerged from his makeshift berth room, the two of them were off to perform a few errands around the town without much disruption. It was done mostly in silence, but they made a few jokes here and there, and Heatwave could physically feel his spark swell with affection for this human femme.

* * *

 **I apologize for how long this took to push out there, but I had no way of really portraying their budding relationship without rushing it, I have all these ideas and no way of executing them.**

 **Also I quite my dead-end job and will start going to school again as soon as I find one worth my time, being an adult sucks and this is really my only escape. I hope all of you can enjoy it with me, and please review and let me know what everyone thinks. I didn't really proof read again, just because I am a little bit tired.**

 **Thank you for sticking with me for so long!~**


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